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Economic Liberty 

vs. 
The Warfare of Wealth. 



A review of modern civilization, and a rational 
discussion of the forces most potent in 



its growth and decline. 



BY 

/ 

ORLO EPPS- r" 



PRESS OF 

HAYWORTH PUBLISHING HOUSE, 

WASHINGTON, D, C, 



/ * 






! ; 



THE LIBRA-RY©F 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

WIAR 19. .1903 

J Copyiight tntiy 
CLASS a- XXc. No. 
COPY B. 



COPYRIGHT, 1903. 

BY 

ORLO EPPS. 



iNStRIPflON. 



To all who seek the truth, (God's way,) 

and ha:ve the courage to follow where it 
■leads; ' '■: " ; • ^t* ■ 

To those who demand liberty and justice for all, 

as human birthrights'; '••" 
To all who love humanity and labor to make it 
happier and better. 
This volume is inscribed by 

The: Author. 



NOTICE. 

This book is for sale by the general 
retail trade, or will be sent by mail, postpaid, by 

THE EPP5 PUBLISHING CO,, 
Oneonta, New York, 

on receipt of price. Paper, 50c. Cloth $100. 



PREFACE. 



In offering this addition to the literature of 
eccnomics, I have madie no attempt at originaUty. 
The ground has already been pretty thoroughly 
plowed by various authors, and' not many basic 
thoughts have been omitted. 

However, any one mam has his own view of the 
subject and generally has some hobby or central 
idea to which he subordinates: all others; conse- 
quently, there is much good in many books and 
also much rubbish. 

The great difficulty that the average man en- 
counters in reading is to separate the true from 
the false, the wheat from the chaff. 

The present work is an attempt to select the best 
thoughts of many books bearing on this subject, to 
arrange them logically and apply them to the prob- 
lems at hand. 

Perhaps at no past time have the conditions of 
society changed more rapidly than in the United 
States within the last twenty years. 



New problems in government are constantly aris- 
ing that demand new principl-es aiid laws for right 
adjustment. 

In a progre's'sive comitry laws cannot remain 
fixed and always be just. 

Property laws, however well adapted for a 
sparsely settled country with unlimited natural re- 
sources, and where the implements of production 
are simple and owned by the operator, are not 
necessarily the best for a thickly settled country 
where opportunity has' been monopolized and 
wealth become oppressive. 

That there is general unrest at the present con- 
ditions is evident; that there is also a painful lack 
of intelligent knowledge of a satisfactory solution 
of the problems is also evident. ' 

Onr leading statesmen and economists agree on 
minor points only, and the accumulation of wealth 
and poverty goes on with accelerated velocity. 

The. causes which destroyed past civilizations 
are operating here, with the aid of the most potent 
levers, machinery and organized" capital. Society 
is rapidly separating into classes. Economic slav- 
ery is fast overcoming the advantages of political 
and religious liberty. 

During all this' time economic thought has been 



cHng-ing to the- ideas' ©f,:othef-eeiatuTies, and the 
few who have had the courage to think for them- 
selves have been deemed cranks or visionaries, and 
traitors to society. 

It is the hope of the author that those who read 
this book will join the' small but noble army of 
independent thinkers, and will give .sorne, part of 
their er.ergies to the uplifting of. humanity, that 
"Thy will may be done on earth, as- it ia in Heaven.'' 

The. .author has drawn unreservedly from, and 
begs to acknowledge his obligations to the follow- 
ing authors : 

Buckles' : History of .Civilization in England; 
AdamiSmith's "Wealth of Nations;" -J. S. Mill, 
Herbert Spencer, Henry George,, Richard T. Ely, 
Carl Marks, Edward Bellamy, Frank Parsons, Dr. 
Alexander Kent, •and many others ; also tO' the tea d- 
ing periodicals of the' day. ' ■ ' '■ •; , ... 

. , , , .Q.REO EPPS, 

'^)neonta, N. Y. 

Jan. ist,ic;o3. ' • ■• - '^ -^ ' 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 



A general introduction to economics, and an ex- 
position of the methods by which, under our pres- 
ent system, classes are necessarily formed as soon 
as society begins to organize page 13. 

CHAPTER H. 

The history of economics and an interpretation 
of its modern development page 74. 

CHAPTER HI. 

The economic features of collective ownership 
of wealth and direction of industry. . . .page 109. 

CHAPTER IV. 

The ethics of economics and modern pro- 
gress page 133. 

CHAPTER V. 

Socialism described, criticised and applied. 

, .page 176. 



'rriE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 13 

INTRODUCTION. 
CHAPTER L . 

On my study table lie several copies of recent 
periodicals and daily papers, 

A review of many of the headlines of their con- 
tents furnishes food for serious reflection, for any 
student of economics, or for any one interested in 
human happiness. 

They indicate not only changes of great moment 
in our industrial life, but also a worship of selfish 
greed and an utter disregard for the welfare of the 
masses of the people. 

These items are not rare collections from a large 
number of copies or for a long period, but are so 
common that they excite little comment from the 
average hustling reader. 

Let me review briefly a few of the principal ones. 
They are familiar to all of you. 

Organized Capital refuses to recognize organ- 
ized Labor. 

One hundred and forty-five thousand miners 



14 fiCONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

engaged in an industrial battle with the coal 
trust. Losses already over $150,000,000, a 
large part of which is by the general public. 
The government powerless to aid the people, but 
troops are protecting the property of organized 
capital. 

Schools and churches to close for want of coal. 

Poor people charged $25 per ton for coal worth 
$4.50. 

The President of the United States, and Gov- 
ernors' of New York and Pennsylvania insulted by 
the coal barons, when approached in behalf of the 
suffering public. 

The Standard Oil Trust raises the price of kero- 
sene, because it can get it. John D. Rockefeller (?) 
gives another million to the Chicago University. 

Boodle Alderman, of St. Louis, in custody. 
Leading citizens implicated in a wholesale public 
robbery. The clan thoroughly oirganized for the 
purpose of defrauding the city. Apathy of the 
officials in pushing the case. 

Reciprocity with Guba blocked by the representa- 
tives of the Sugar Trust in the United States 
Senate. The Administration powerless. 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 15 

The cost of a presidential campaign and where 
it comes from. 

MilHons freely provid^ed by corporations and 
trusts to elect Capital's candidate. 

Prince Henry and other royalty entertained by 
our millionaires. 

Our wealthy citizens hobnobbing with English 
and German royalty. They buy homes abroad and 
join hands and hearts with the aristocracy of the 
old world. 

The $1,400,000,000 steel trust, whose stock is 
nearly one-half water, pays a handsome dividend 
and carries over a large surplus. 

Great prosperity still continues. 

Large exports of iron and steel products. 

Prices lower abroad than at home. - - ' 

Trusts and corporations formed during the past 
three years are capitalized at $4,318,000,000, (ex- 
clusive of railroads). We now have in the United 
States nearly four thousand million heirs. 

The concentration of railroads. 1880- 1900. 

Vanderbilt system controls 19,500 miles. 

Penn. system controls about 18,000 



16 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. ' ■ 

Gould-Rockefeller system about... 16,900 

Hill-Morgan system about 43,000 

Hairriman & Co. system' about .... 21,900 

All outside companies about 35,896 

Nine billion dollars worth of railway property, 
(one-tenth of our total wealth,) now controlled by 
five corporations, while many directors serve two or 
more corporations. 

Morgan succeeds in combining the Atlantic 
steamships. New corporation has hundreds of 
millions capital. 

The capital stock of trusts and combines engaged 
in manufacture is equal to the combined capital thus 
em'ploye'd in 1890. 

Trust stock averages nearly one-half water. 
Thirty per cent, of the laborers in some southern 
mills are under twelve years old. Their average 
wage is $1.43 per week. The average of all wages 
in the mills of the southern states is 57 cents per 
day. 

One-seventh of all employees in Massachusetts 
manufacturing establishments, receive less than $5 
per week. 

Statistics indicate that one and one-quarter per 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 17 

cent, of the people own seventy per cent, of our 
total wealth. 

Our total wealth has Increased thirteen fold in 
the last fifty years, and over $25,000,000,000 in the 
last ten years, yet the percentage of suicidie, pover- 
ty, crini'e and insanity are on the increase. 

O'ne-tenth of the dead in some of our large's't 
cities are buried in the potter's field. 

One million two hundred and twenty-five thou- 
sand people in New York live in crowded 
tenements. 

The above are only a few suggestive topics of 
interest. They are not striking enough to cause 
special comment from the press or the masses, yet 
they show the drift of industry and of economic 
thought. 

These conditions grow upon us gradually, henice 
we do not fully realize their significance. 

We are so accustomed to hearing about our glori- 
O'us free country, of equality before the law, of our 
ability as inventors, manufacturers, organizers, 
soldiers, sailors and general hustlers, that we are 
loth to believe that we have any defects or weak- 
nes'ses. 



IS ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

We look upward with patriotic joy to a flag that 
symboHzes political and religious liberty, and then 
bow our necks to the yoke of industrial slavery 
without a murmur or thought of injustice. 

It was ever thus with other civilizations, yet they 
have passed away. 

The causes of their decline and "decay are well 
established with ours, as evinced by the above con- 
ditions. 

Are the causes capable of being removed? 

Are they natural laws or are they human errors ? 
Are they necessary or even desirable? These are 
the questions demanding an answer at our hands 
to-day. 

In discussing the fundamental laws of social pro- 
gress, I would first divide the subject into its two 
natural phases; the physical part, and the intel- 
lectual part. 

Unless we "do this, we shall be liable to allow 
one phase of progress to dominate over the other 
at the expense of both. 

That these two phases are fairly well balanced in 
the United States to-day, I am willing to admit, 
but that they will remain so long, 1 seriously doubt. 



ThS warfare op wealth. 19 

I shall include in the first part all that pertains 
to the development of physical power, and the ac- 
cumiulation and distribution of wealth. 

The second part will naturally consider those 
purely mental attributes, Law and Ethics, as re- 
lated to social progress. 

Before we can intelligently study the progress of 
society collectiveiy, we must consider the individual 
and the means by which he progresses as such. 

We can best observe these characteristics by com- 
paring progressive man with non-progressive 
animals. 

There are three distinct dififerences. 

First, Animals in their natural habit make no 
mistakes. 

This follows largely from' the fact that their 
wants are purely physical, and from the second 
difference, which is. Animals make no improve- 
ments. • 

Whoever heard of a bird being puzzled as to 
how or where or when to- build its nest, or as tO; 
the finish or strength of it. 

Yet the nest of the mud swallow to-day is not 
one whit more commodious than the ones built 



20 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

under the eaves of Grecian temples, and the size 
and shape of the wood-chucks burrow are the same 
as those of all his ancestors. 

Animals instinctively shun danger, whether it be 
in the form of a poisonous plant, or an anim^al foe, 
yet they make no new provisions for defense, or for 
the destruction of their enemies. 

It is true that where necessity compels it, ani- 
mails sometimes show great cunning and patience 
in procuring food. 

It is also true that where the climiate makes it 
difficult to procure food a part of the year, that 
some animals instinctively provide for the ap- 
proaching famine. 

But, that this is purely instinct, is shown by the 
fact that young anim'als, which have never known 
what winter is, make the same provision as older 
ones. 

Animals in captivity or domesticated may be 
taught many things which might argue a higher 
intelligence, but yet these same animals never try 
to teach their offspring the same tricks. 

They may have the power of memory well de- 
veloped, but rational thought is beyond them. 



f I THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 21 

Their lack of progress may be best explaine'd 
by their third difference from m-an, namely, the use 
of implements. 

Animals make no use of implements. Man can- 
not progress materially withoiit the use of imple- 
m'ents, and his progress is in direct proportion to 
the efficiency of the implement used. 

The Chinese coolie can, by the aid of a bag 
thrown over his shoulder, transport one hundred 
pounds of tea twenty-five miles' in a day. Our 
locomotive engineer, using a modern locomotive, 
a railroad, and a train of cars, can sit on a cushion- 
ed seat in a comfortable cab, and, with the energy 
developed by a few tons of coal, transport thous- 
and's of tons of freight twO' hundred miles per day. 

The coolie performs many times more manual 
labor than the engineer, but the results are affected 
by the efficiency of the implements used in both 
cases. Nor is the result a matter of the difference 
in intelligence of the operators, as many often 
suppose. 

The Persian woman, who' spends years in weav- 
ing an intricate pattern in a rug, has much more 
skill and uses more intelligence than does the opera- 



22 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

tor behind an automatic power loom, which weaves 
a similar design in many rug's per day. 

It takes but little skill or knowledge to operate 
a canal boat, yet this simple contrivance is the great- 
est competitor of the complicated railway in trans- 
porting freight. The effectiveness of the impk- 
ment is' what tells in results, other things being 
reasonably equal. 

I wish my readers tO' remember this in connection 
with future arguments. 

Having thus briefly considered' the essential dif- 
ferences between, the progressive and non-progres- 
sive as individuals, let us now turn our attention to 
the progressive and non-progressive in society. 

Politicians would have us believe that our pro- 
gress and prosperity depends upon our form of 
government, our laws, tariffs, tax systems, etc. But 
let us see. England' and Germany, under monar- 
chial governments have made nearly as rapid pro- 
gress during the past century as the United States, 
while our Canadian brethren are so well satisfied 
that they prefer paying a heavy duty on goods sold 
us, rather than change their government for ours. 

On the other hand, many of the republics of 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 23 

Central and South America have made but slight 
progress. Countries, with high tariff's, and those 
with no tariffs, have prospered, side by side. 

Countries with elected officers and countries with 
royal monarchs have progressed or declined, re- 
gardless of these facts. 

The evidence is so plain that all may read for 
themselves: 

Then again, the church would have us believe 
that our generally accepted form of religion, 
"Christianity," is responsible for our prosperity 
and progress. Let us see. Japan, with a pagan 
religion, has made more pro'gress in the past fifty 
years than Christian Spain, or Italy, has made in 
ten centuries'. 

It is a fact of history, and experience that where 
and when the church is strongest, civilization is 
most backward, and liberty and happiness are sup- 
pressed. This is an observed fact in our own 
co'untry. The sections most pervaded by theology 
were the Puritan settlements' of New England, and 
the slave-holding states of the South. Their 
ideals of liberty and justice are well known, and 



24 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. ■ 

the influence of tbem still permeates the localities 
tO' some degree. 

That this effect is natural and rational will be 
better understood after studying the chapter on the 
ethical side of progress. 

W-e must conclude from the above that material 
progress is not necessarily conditioned by either 
law or theology, and that the mental side of the 
subject is largely 'distinct from the material side. 

I would not have my readers infer that I depre- 
ciate the good effects of law or religion. Far from 
it. There is much in them, that is good, but that 
they are controlling influences for material pro- 
gress, I deny. That they are the causes of stopping 
progress' and prodticing decline, I hope to prove. 

Civilized society is difiicult of analysis, on ac- 
count of the variety of sources fromi wliich its 
elements are drawn. 

As modern Rome is largely constructed from the 
ruins of the Coliseulii and other public buildings, 
so modern civilization is partly constructed from 
the ruins of those passed away. In fact the ethical 
side of modleni civilization is not only constructed 
of the material of ancient ruins, but jt still clings 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 25 

tc the Structural forms and styles of those models. 

We can, perhaps, study the essential principals 
of social development best by following the history 
of a primitive settlement, from its first establish- 
ment beyond civilization, to its ultimiate develop- 
ment as a great commercial center. 

In our typical frontier settlement, there is 
equality of opportunity and of wealth. All have 
common interests and perils, and are free from op- 
pression of every kind. 

Undeveloped natural resources abound, land 
rent is nothing, and taxes are light. The im.ple- 
mients of industry are simple and well distributed. 

Each man owns his land and tools, and conse- 
quently owns the product of his own labor. 

Each family is largely independent of the rest, 
and contains the necessary knowledge, skill and 
implements to sustain comfortable existence, with, 
of course, few luxuries. Laws are few and all but 
usele'ss and crime is practically unknown. All 
labor, none play or shirk. 

Everybody is happy and contented, and progress, 
although slow, is constant. 

What wonder that the careworn, despondent son 



26 ECONOMIC LIBERTY Vg. 

of toil of modern life should long for the "days of 
his daddies?" 

Little do they dream, however, that securely es- 
tablished among them is a fundamental principle 
of law, which will one day make them enemies of 
each other, elevate some to opulence and all but 
pauperize the rest. 

All goes well at first in our embryo society. The 
land is cleared and cultivated, roads are construc- 
ted, homes are built, and schools are established. 

Meanwhile, some individuals have shown a 
marked preference and ability in performing 
special kinds oi work, and labor becomes more 
and more specialized. Some follow carpentry, 
others shoe-making, others blacksmithing, and 
still others attend to the distribution of surplus 
goods and exchanging them for more desirable 
commodities; yet so long as each one owns his own 
tools, or his own land, and can doi for himself what 
he may prefer to hire done, no injustice or extor- 
tion occurs. All are benefitted by the superior skill 
of the carpenter, the smith and the cobbler, and 
the rest of the community can well afford to divide 
with them the fruits of their own- labor in other 



,_ THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. "27 

lines. The farmier, having more time to- devote 
to his own proper work, can make many improve- 
ments that were before impossible, while the trades- 
men can study out many mew and useful forms and 
tools. Everything seems to progress along the 
lines of justice and equity. The religion of useful 
toil, kindness and human sympathy pervades the 
air. 

But now an event occurs which, while itoeca- 
sions no' comment or opposition, is still fraught with 
consequences and most momentous. 

Instead of the produce 'dealer, carpenter, smith 
and cobbler, living in separate sections of the com- 
munity, it is deemed best that they should reside 
in a more compact settlement near the center, so 
as to be more easily reached. 

This seems rational, inasmuch as a post office 
and a general store have become necessary. 

A site is selected on Farmer Jones' land, near 
the falls in the river. A street is laid out, parcels 
of land staked off for the use of the various pro- 
posed residents, and our embryo town begun. A 
school house is now considered a necessity, and, 
naturally, our new village is selected as the best 



28 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

location for it. Farmer Jones cheerfully donates 
the grounds and chuckles at his good luck. Ad- 
joining the Jones homestead on the East is the farm 
of neighbor Greene, while two miles further on is 
the home of Farmer Smith. 

Farmer Smith's place is equally as good for farm 
purposes as Greenes, and the improvements are 
even better. However, Farmer Smith has some 
small children to educate, and his son wishes to 
learn a trade. So he proposes to neighbor Green 
that they trade farms. "Ob no," says Green, "My 
chil'dTen now have but a short distance to go to 
school ; I can get my mail daily ; I am convenient 
to the store and workshops, and therefore save 
time in going to town, besides our village is s'ure to 
grow. All of which have a value. If you wish, I 
will trade for $i,ooo to boot." 

"Very well," says Smith, I think your argument 
is good, and the price of the advantages fair, so I 
will pay you the $i,ooo." 

The trade was duly made, and notwithstanding 
Smith bad done as much as Green to make the 
place worth the extra money, yet he cheerfully 
bound himself and his heirs forever to pay to 



; , THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 29 

Green and his posterity, the sum of the interest of 
$1,000 annually. 

This was the beginning of land rents in Jones- 
ville but not the end. 

While the community at large felt that an unfair 
advantage had been gained by a few of their num- 
ber, yet their selfish ownership of their own places 
prevented them from doing more than envy their 
fortunate neighbors, and long to stand in their 
shoes. They also argued to themselves that they 
had lost nothing by having the village, but were 
really better off than before. 

Therefore the cO'St had not come out of them, 
and why should they object to their neighbors' 
gains. 

Little do they realize the value that organized 
society gives to favored locations, on account of 
consequences or special opportunities, or that they 
have any m'oral right to a share in this value. This 
is the first stepping-stone to inequality in economics 
and the first wedge that tends to separate society 
into classes. 

It is plainly evident that Farmer Green and his 
posterity have a decided advantage now over the 



30 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. ' " 

neighbors' adjoining him, inasmuch as he has $60 
per year (the legal rate on $1,000) to spend, more 
tlian they, or, if he chooses, he may remain idle 
and buy from them, thereby becoming a burden to 
society. 

This, again, is not clear to his neighbors, as they 
say they must sell Iheir surplus somewhere, and 
Farmer Green's money is as good as any ones. Be- 
sides, he is close by, and saves long hauls. 

In fact, many of his neighbors wish he were rich 
enough to remain idle all the time, so that he might 
buy more. This idea naturally follows the supposi- 
tion that wages are "drawn from capital. This is 
entirely wrong. 

Wages are paid from the product of labor, and 
labor is extremely fortunate if it receives a fair 
share of that. Farmer Green's legal obligation to 
his neighbors may allow him to become a dead 
load on society, but his moral and rational obliga- 
tion is to labor with the rest, and return in kind 
for what he receives. 

However, I will not attempt the discussion of 
capital and interest at this point, but reserve it for 
another place. 



¥h^ warfAr:^ op wealth. si 

Meanwhile other events of interest are taking 
place. A mill is needed for sawing, and also for 
grinding. A good millwright has come to the 
place, and wishes to use the water-power of the 
river near the village. "Very well," says shrewd 
Farmer Jones, "Although the river is public proper- 
ty, yet you cannot develop and' use the power with- 
out using some of my land, but as it is a public ne- 
cessity I will allow you to build the necessary 
works and buildings. You may have the power free 
for ten years, provided you allow me to control the 
surplus power developed. 

As the proposition seems fair, the milkr pro- 
ceeds to build the plant. He finds he can use only 
a small part of the power which may be developed, 
but as it costs him nothing he makes no objection. 
The miller now buys a town lot for his home,— 
the first sold so- far. 

Mr. Johnson, the m'erchant, has found it neces- 
sary to enlarge his store, and add a larger stock of 
goodis. He also employs Farmer 'Smith's son as 
a clerk. His wife, who has been helping in the 
store, now attends to her household, and the chil- 
dren go to school. All seems prosperous and happy, 



22 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

but it is noticed that Farmer Smith has a harder 
time than his neighbors. He and his family work 
longer hours and have less comfort than the others, 
in order to pay the interest on the $i,ooo. The 
son works in the store instead of going to school, 
and the good wife does without a sewing machine 
this year. The needed repairs to the house also 
go over for lack of funds. But the farm is grow- 
ing in value and no one complains. 

The hitherto quiet life of "Jo'^'csville" is now 
to be rudely shaken by an event which is destined to 
make an era in its industries, the economic result 
of which will receive the same fallacious and ignor- 
ant explanation as those which preceded it. 

One pleasant morning, a brisk hustling Yankee 
by the name of Price, from the shoe district of 
Massachusetts, drove into town. He had heard of 
the idle water-power here, and also noted the facili- 
ties for a tannery. 

He approached "Squire Jones'" and laid his 
proposition before him, which was, to build a large 
shoe factory below the grist mill, using- the surplus 
power. He explained that he would use one 



r THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 33 

hundred operatives in' his works, many of whom 
would come fromi Massachusetts. 

Squire Jones', having an eye to business and not 
being pushed for money, as his farm was largely 
under cultivation still, readily agreed to 'donate 
sufficient land for the new factory, also the use of 
the power for a few years, until the enterprise was 
"on^ its feet." 

He also presented Mr. Price an elegant plot of 
land, near the mills, for his own residence, and in 
return was presented with five shares of stock in 
the new enterprise, that he might be identified with 
it. He was also' commissioned to sell some of the 
stock of the concern tO' the more prosperous citizens 
of the community. (I introduce this feature of busi- 
ness because it is popular in organizing new enter- 
prises.) 

All the community are excited. Wages will be 
higher in the mill thani on the farm. A home 
m-arket and other necessary conveniences are as- 
sured, such as a hotel and a 'drug store. A railroad 
is even projected. Many of the more thrifty of the 
farmers subscribe to the stock. In due time the 
m.ill is built. Then the operatives begin to appear. 



84 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

New Streets are laid out and town lots 100x150 
sell for more than several acres would have sold 
for two years before. Still it is the only thing- to 
do unless the employees walked a long way. The 
price is not large, especially when compared with 
the price in other towns, and furthermore each one 
was confident that the town would grow and his 
own land become more valuable. 

Squire Jones profited several thousand by the 
transaction, and still had nine-tenths of his land 
left. But as he had a legal title to the land, there 
seemed nothing wrong, besides each one had made 
a good trade and gotten value received. 

They were more interested in their own affairs 
and in the dollars they hoped to make than in the 
dollars they were spending. 

The factory was finally completed and operated. 
Shoes were turned out by marvelous machinery. 
Each workman had a special task. None knew how 
to complete a shoe, but the output was tremendous. 
In fact the average was nearly twenty pairs per 
day for each workman. The wages were not as 
high as had been expected, but the operatives', by 
tending a small garden, patch and practicing 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 35 



economy, were able to live comfortably. As the 
factory di"d not do repairing, our good old shoe- 
maker, (whom I will call Uncle Richard), still plied 
his vocation as a cobbler. 

One evening, as he was finishing his task for the 
day, Squire Jonesi dropped in, and, being now a 
man of wealth and leisure, began talking aboiut the 
great advantages O'f machinery. 

"You," said he, "can make but one pair of shoes 
per day at best, while by the aid of machinery 
twenty pairs are made and the finish is uniform." 

Uncle Richard listened attentively and then, after 
a few minutes thoughtful silence, repHed, "Yes, 
machinery is a great help in production, and is a 
necessary factor in our progress. But," he added, 
"machinery is only an increase of power, and power 
may be a bad as well as a good thing." 

"I don't quite understand," said the Squire, 
"How can power be a bad thing?" 

"A horse," replied Uncle Richard, "may draw 
the plow all day, or if not properly restrained, may 
run away and destroy both himself and the plow. 
An engine may perfonn useful work, or it may ex- 
plode and spread destruction all around. Power 



36 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. * 

must be rightly controlled. Let us stop a minute 
and see where we are coming out. I make a pair of 
shoes. As I own my implements and stock, the 
shoes belong to me. While making them, I am 
wearing out shoes and clothing, am occupying a 
house, require three meals, support a family and 
assist in keeping up schools, roads and church. I 
also instruct young men in the art, and am an in- 
dependent tradesman, and can go where I wish and 
open my shop. 

You say the machine does' as much as twenty 
such as I am. Then nineteen families are taken 
from' society. The machine eats nothing, wears 
no clothes, occupies but a small fraction of a house, 
and has no obligation tO' society. The operative 
must come to the machine and work in connection 
with it and other machines, and finally he does not 
own the product O'f his own labor, but is practically 
a part of the machine. His* wages are less than 
mine. The price of the shoe, quality considered, 
is about the same as mine. 

Now, honor bright, Squire, so long as the finan- 
cial benefit of the factory goes to the owner of the 
machines, where does the rest of society come in?" 



: 1 .,,:..- -pjjj, WARFARE OF WEALTH. 37 

The Squire was siknt but thoughtful. He was 
an honest, well-meaning man, and in amassing his 
wealth, had done the same as any other man would 
have done, if in his place. 

He, like the rest, remained ignorant O'f any moral 
wrong, as the law presumed to be just. 

He had noticed the prospective profits of the 
new factory with pleasure, but had never thought 
of the operatives or society in connection with it. 
He had never heard of any other way to run a 
factory, 

"Please bear in mind," resumed Uncle Richard, 
"that I am not opposed to machinery. It is the 
crowning glory of our civilization. But is there 
not something wrong when so much power and in- 
genuity benefits the owner alone? Is it right for 
free human beings to become practically a part of 
a machine, when the machine and its product are 
owned by another? Is it not industrial slavery? 
Between the operatives at the factory, and myself, 
I prefer to remain as I am." 

"But," he continued, "I am' thankful that the 
machines' do not do cobbling and harness work, 



3s ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. ': " 

else I might be forced into the factory as others 
have been." 

Let us leave the factory for a little while, and di- 
rect our attention to the development of another 
branch of industry in our growing city. 

At the beginning of the factory agitation, the 
good produce dealer, or as he is now caWed, 
"mierchant," Mr. Johnson, was prosperous and 
happy. 

His fair dealing had won the confidence of all, 
and their increasing ability to buy and also to sell 
had given him a comfortable business. True he 
had not gotten rich, as Squire Jones had, but he 
had a business built up which allowed him to pay 
his clerk a fair salary, and support himself and 
family as well as his neighbors did, so he was 
contented. But alas for human happiness under 
modern laws. With the coming of the factory 
operatives came also a wide-awake trader from 
Connecticut, named Whitcomb. He saw an opening 
and set up an opposition store across the street. 
Naturally he wanted as much trade as be could 
get, so he reduced the prices on several things to 
about cost. These prices being below those of Mr, 



rTHE WARFARE OF WEALTH, 39 

Johnson, the people began patronizing the new 
store. Something must be done and that at once. 
Johnson meets his prices and cuts on other things 
below him, and this in turn is met by Whitco'mb. 
Neither men are making a cent, but each is game. 
Johnson discharges his clerk and has his wife help 
him. He also takes his oldest boy from school to 
assist in running errands. Family expenses are 
cut to the limits. 

Whitcomb, being a single man, gives up his 
room' at the hotel and sleeps on a cot in his office. 
He also gets part of his own meals out of his 
cracker barrel and canned stuffs. Both men now 
begin to be accused of giving light weight. 

The sugars are dampened. The spices and coffee 
are adulterated. Both men buy in small quantities 
and work night and day. They are worn and hag- 
gard, trying to devise ways of destroying each 
other's business. 

Yet both are good, law-abiding Christian men, 
and fully believe that "competition is the life of 
trade." Both have been giving their time and sub- 
stance to the public freely, for the sole sake of 



40 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

ruining each other, with the result that both had 
been brought to the very verge of ruin. 

One morning, after a sleepless night, Whitcomb 
walked slowly over to the store of Johnson and ac- 
costed him as follows: "Neighbor Johnson, I 
have been thinking of late of the folly and useless- 
niess of our mutual actions. I have come to the 
conclusion that we are destroying each other need- 
lessly for the benefit of others. There is enough 
business here for us both. Why not work together 
instead of against each other?" 

Johnson thankfully grasped the proffered hand 
and replied, "Whitcomb, you are right. // com- 
petition is the life of trade, it is the death of the 
tradesmen. Competition is industrial Anarchy. 
Let us form a partnership and combine our stocks. 
We will save the rent of one store, we can regulate 
prices on a fair basis ; we can buy in larger quanti- 
ties and for cash. We will have but one set of 
books, one delivery wagon, one store to heat and 
light, and we can take turns attending the store, 
so that each may have some time outside. My son 
can return to his studies, my wife to her home 
duties, and you can have a room at my house. 



(•' ■ , THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 41 

The next day the sign "Jo'hn'son & Whitcomb," 
was placed over the store, and the first capitaldstic 
combine (or embryo trust) was formed in Jones- 
ville. 

I leave it to the reader which was right, — com- 
petition or co-operation? 

Which is the most humane, industrial warfare 
with no prisoners, or mutual helpfulness? Which 
system- is most conducive to carrying out the com- 
mand, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself?" 
Which is nearest the Golden Rule? 

Meanwhile, events' of interest have happened at 
the factory. More money was needed to equip the 
plant and buy supplies. As no one was able to buy 
more stock, the concerni had issued bonds for the 
amount. It was not generally known that a partic- 
ular friend of Manager Price had purchased the 
bonds. It was rumored that the factory was not 
paymg. Wages were reduced arid to keep the men 
at work at the cut price a few were laid off, and it 
was hinted that a shut-down was possible. No 
dividends had as yet been paid, and now the inter- 
est on the bonds was defaulted. The crash came 
sooner than was expected. A receiver was appoint- 



42 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. | 

ed and the factory advertised to be sold. As the 
small stockholders* were unable to buy it, their 
stock was practically valueless. The plant might 
not sell for enough to pay the bonds against it. 
As Squire Jones still owned' the water-power and 
also the adjoining land, he was let into the deal on 
the ground floor. A new company was organized 
in the factory office late one night, and Price and 
Jones were the principal stockholders. When the 
receiver put the property up for sale, the above firm 
offered a small amoiuit above the bonded indebted- 
ness of the concern and the plant was struck off to 
them. The dear, good stockholders, who' had beetl 
so cleverly relieved of their stock, of course, felt a 
pang of disappointment at the loss of their chenish- 
ed investment, yet they were grateful to the "patri- 
otic gentlemen" for voluntarily investing more 
money in a doubtful (?) enterprise for the "good 
of the community." Besides, they argued, if the 
factory could only be operated, the advance in value 
of their farms, due to it, would offset their loss of 
stock. They therefore forgot the past, returned 
to their labor and looked hopefully ahead. Mes'srs. 
Price and Jones were meanwhile patting each other 



' THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 43 

on the back and chuckling at the ease with which 
they had "cleaned up the public" and appropriated, 
legally, $30,000 of its hard earnings. 

The factory was at once put on full time and 
the order book rapidly filled up. Wages were ad- 
vanced half way to the old figures, and all was 
prosperity and joy. 

What a fortunate condition, (for the rich), that 
the masses should be so much interested in their 
own selfish schemes that they have no time to detect 
and punish the designing rascality of wealth. 

An incident of importance had in the meantime 
occurred in another part of the community. Farmer 
Greene had discovered a le"dge of limestone out- 
cropping on his farm. Heretofore, lime for all 
building purposes had been hauled by w^^ons from 
Stonetown, nearly thirty miles away. The prospect 
of a lime-kiln in their midst was hailed with joy by 
the community. Farmer Greene at once built his 
kiln and soon had plenty of first-class lime, Now 
lime was selling at twenty-five cents per barrel at 
Stonetown, but the cost of hauling had made the 
price $1.00 per barrel at Jonesville. , The difference, 
of seventy-five cents per barrel, could now clearly 



44 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

be saved. But owing to the quarry being on 
Greene's land, the lime belonged to him. He ha'd 
a monopoly so far as Jonesville was concerned. He 
placed the price at niiTety-five cents per barrel, and 
would sell for noi less. He pointed out to his ob- 
jecting neighbors that they were then saving five 
cents per barrel by buying of him, and al'so "build- 
ing up a home industry." 

Some few of the more public-spirited of the 
community refuse his extortion and still patronize 
the distant dealer, but the majority, 'of them accept 
Greene's reasoning and his prices. It is a little 
cheaper and after all they are a little better off 
than before. 

What a blessing that limestone was to that com- 
munity under private ownership of property. 

Still Greene acted entirely within his legal rights, 
and the law professes to be just and right. 

It is founded on the great Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, yet how in the name of common sense 
are all men to be equal in the "pursuit of happi- 
ness, when the essentials for that happiness are 
owned and monopolized by the few? 

But we must again return to the village. There 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 45 

is more excitement. In fact our happy community 
has had but Httle tranquihty^ and peace since Jon^s- 
ville was begun. 

The cause of the n-ew excitement is the announce- 
ment that the famous New York store is to open a 
branch house in Jonesville. The people reUsh th« 
outlook of a repetition of the Johnson-Whitcomb 
competition for business, and their own gains 
thereby. In due time the store was built and 
stocked, and the eager bargain hunters looked for 
the first cut in prices. But, lo, something else 
happened entirely different. Johnson & Whitcomb 
had been through the fight once and that sufficed. 
Union was far easier than destruction. A couple 
of hours conference with the manager of the New 
York store fixed it all up. But it would not do 
for the competition loving, bargain-hunting public 
to know it. So next day Johnson & Whitcomb cut 
prices on a few minor articles and the New York 
store 'did likewise on several others, while both 
raised' on the necessities of life. 

But the public was satisfied. There were always 
"fine bargains" in both stores, and they had the 
"privilege" of trading where they pleased. 



46 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

There is ii'Othing on earth hke competition. (And 
for that we ought to be truly thankful.) 

The years roll on and our town has become a 
small city. Squire Jones is now President of the 
National Bank and a wealthy man. His land rent 
for lots built on by others, and interest received on 
the money for lots sold, bring him in an enormous 
revenue. His developed water-power is also valu- 
able. He still owns several acres inside the cor- 
porate limits, which, on account of not having yet 
been cut up into lots and sold, are assessed as farm 
lands. He also owns many vacant lots, but has 
never built anything for himself, has never em- 
ployed any kind of labor or aided improvements, 
yet he is wealthy beyond; the needs of avarice. 

Another wealthy man isour manufacturer. Price. 
The factory has prospered since his almost sole 
ownership, but the regular methods are still too 
slow. The toilers at the machines do not furnish 
sufficient opportunity for his greed. The city 
paper prints a cohmin article about the prosperity 
of the great enterprise. Last year it paid $10,000 
in dividends. The order book is full. The present 
owner desires to retire. A company is to be or- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 47 

ganized to buy the property. A part of the value 
of the plant will be subscribed by the present owner, 
and he will remain for an indefinite time and oper- 
ate it. 

Stock will be sold at par for the purpose. Apply 
at the Bank. The Bank has a liberal supply o'f the 
stock ready for the opening-, and well it has', for the 
people want a good thing in interest-bearing securi- 
ties. As the plant paid lo per cent on $100,000, 
that amount is soon sold, and with the part sub- 
scribed by the present owner, the new capital stock 
of the concern is $150,000. On this amount the 
consuming public and the operatives are required to 
pay a dividend Oif over 6 per cent., while the actual 
value of the mill is but $100,000. Mr. Price has 
cleaned up $50,000 by the- transaction and pos- 
terity can hold" the bag and pay the dividends on 
the watered stock. 

The operatives in the factory, f-eeling that they 
were in some way entitled to a share of the pros- 
perity of the concern and being refused their de- 
mand for an advance in wages, struck. They were 
then coolly informed that the plant was' only paying 
6 per cent, on its stock, with nothing for repairs. 



48 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. '■ 

They then demanded a reduction in the stock to 
the actual vakre of the plant, but were politely told 
that that m-ethod would seriously injure many in- 
nocent purchasers who were poor people, and their 
stock represented their only savings. Presto, the 
nail had been dtiven home and clinched. 

The discourag-ed, defeated employees, having 
still more sympathy for their fellows than hatred 
for the selfish greed of the "benefactors," returned 
sadly to the factory and were again "coupled to the 
machines." 

Meanwhile, Mr. Price is taking a trip to Europe 
for his health, and his palace is receiving a new 
overhauling. O'f what value would publicity be in 
this case? Yet it is typical of a large part of our 
present industrial organizafiou. 

We have now carried our embryo civilization 
far enough to illustrate the foundation principles 
by means of wbich society is separated into its class- 
es. The private ownership of land and oi machin- 
ery, or the implements of production, is shown to 
underlie much of our troubles. 

The discussion of the more modern phase of 
these principles, together with others of less* im- 



I THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 49 

portance will now be taken up in the abstract. 

Let us first discuss the lea'ding question of 
modern times, the organization of industry, both 
as it affects capital and labor, — ^i. e., Trusts and 
Labor Unions. 

In any new country, or wherever there are an 
abundance of undeveloped resources', there is gen- 
erally an approximate equality of wealth. 

The implements' o'f production are well distribu- 
ted, and generally owned by the individual who 
operates them. The average product per capita is 
small, but equal distribution gives each an abun- 
'dance. Opportunities being practically equal, the 
personality of the individual is given full play, and 
the product of his labor will be proportional toi his 
ab'lity. Virtue succeeds and vice fails. The pre- 
miums are justly awarded. 

As time gods' on and industry becomes more 
complex and differentiated; as several special lines 
of trade take the place formerly occupied by one; 
as land rents become higher and higher; as the im- 
plimients of industry become owned more and more 
by the capitalists and less by the operative; social 
and economic conditions are bound to be changed. 



50 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

Nor can this be avoided under oiir existing laws. 
In fact so^ far as the org-anization of capital and the 
specializing and systematizing of industry are con- 
cerned ; it is highly important that it should be so. 
Progres's depends on it and the sum totail of produc- 
tion is vastly increas'ed. 

Under modern conditions, one man supplies 
shoes for i,ooo people; cloth for 300 people; bread 
for 150 people-; or iron for 500 people. 

The possibilities for enjoyment are better and it 
is the fault of law if zue do not get it. 

I have already shown the advantage of co-part- 
ntership over two competing concerns. The same 
reason will apply to the formation of a corporation 
by several firms engaged in the same line, with the 
further advantage to itself that the corporation, be- 
ing a creature o-f law, has no conscience, and no 
personal obligations. The directors, under plea of 
protecting the interest of the stockholders, often 
do things that no private concern could do arid 
prosper, and which they would individually not 
dare to do. 

Yet, so long as it is the policy of the govern- 
ment to do as little as possible, and so long as in- 



THEi WARFARE OF WEALTH. 5i 

dividiials have not sufficient capital for great enter- 
prises, tlie corporation is the only solution of the 
prohl'em,. Without them, we would have no rail- 
roads, steamships, telegraphs, express facilities', or 
industrial works of any size. Progress would be 
impossible beyond a certain place. 

Individual enterprises must needs each have th^ 
expense of management, oi advertising, etc., and 
usually a lack of working capital. When joined in- 
to a corporation, the expenses of management be- 
comes proportionately less, business being done on 
a large scale can usually be done cheaper, materials 
can be bought at a better advantage, and a better 
knowledge and control of the entire field is obtain- 
ed. Over-prO'duction can be better prevented, and 
foreign markets can be more effectually reached. 
Labor can be more highly specialized and made 
more productive. Moreover, capital has' an oppor- 
tunity for investment, which would be closed to it 
without the corporation. The trouble then lies not 
in the principle of corporations, but in the abuse of 
the principle and the further fact of limited owner- 
ship. 

Corporations may be formed by several private 



52 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

enterprises, or may be formed by two or more men 
or firms placing their capital in a common fund for 
a specific enterprise, yet tO' be established. 

A trust, on the other hand, usually deals with 
firms and corporations' already established, and 
simply seeks either to purchase a large portion of 
the existing enterprises outright, or to merge their 
interests, as to management, production, sales, etc. 

There is nothing irrational in this principle. 

Competition is industrial warfare and waste. 

Co-opcraton is industrial peace and econotny. 
Competition could only be just amxOng equals, anci 
as I have before shown, our laws and social customs 
are bound to produce inequality as soon as society 
begins to organize. Furthermore, men have not 
ecjual talents, strength or character. Hence, we 
might well infer that, even were the laws just, 
and natural opportunities equal, still competition 
would soon tend to separate the strong from the 
weak. The stronger ones once getting an advan- 
tage would be doubly sure to hold it, while the 
weaker ones would become more helpless. 

In all the civilizations of the past, under a varie- 
ty of governments, and religions,, with private or 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 53 

corporate control of capital, the strong have been 
developed and the weak depressed. 

Machinery and corporate power are only levers 
by means of which the rich rise more rapidly, and 
by which the poor are held in a more helpless in- 
dustrial bondage. It remains tO' be seen how far 
the rich and poor can be separated before progress 
is stopped and decline takes its place. 

Of course, where conditions of nature only ex- 
ist, the inequalities of society will be localized and 
will never be so- extremfe. The world has never 
known of s'uch colossal fortunes^ as have been 
amassed in a fewi years in America, by means of 
machinery and capital. Single men now control 
small armies of workmem in many lines O'f business, 
while many corporations hold the welfare of large 
communities in the hollow of their hands. Where 
once there were a hundred masters, now there is 
but one. Where once fifty men each owned an in- 
dependent store, now one department store fills- the 
want, and the fifty former proprietors' are now 
salesmen in the departments. Where many inde- 
pendent lines of railways were operated a few 
years ago, now one line controls all, and the end 



o4 ECONOMIC LIBERTY ^ S. 

is n'ot yet. Competition still goes o^n, and far above 
the humble worker. 

Ill the counting' rooms of millionaire stock hold- 
ers and around the executive board tables, the fight 
is still intense. It is a battle royal of the leviathans 
of finance, with the inevitable result, greater con- 
solidation. 

The total concentration of wealth in the United 
States during the last ten years is almost incredible. 
That this enormous implement will be wielded 
with telling effett in^ the world competition for 
tiade is obvious. Already the powers of Europe 
tremble, and well they may, for in the competition 
between nations, organizations and natural re- 
sources are bound to tell. 

So far as total products are concerned, concen- 
trated capital and organized energy are of prime 
importance in modern life. ( See appendix as to R. 
R. vs. Farm earnings, per capita.) Without them, 
the sum total would be only a fraction of its pres- 
ent size." 

The influence of machinery and organization on 
the production of wealth is best shown by the U. S. 
census returns. 



[~ THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 55 

In 1850, the total w^ealth of the U. 'S. was esti- 
ntated at about 7 billions of dollars. About $300 
per capita. 

In 1870 it had increased to 30 billions — $780 per 
capita. 

In 1880 it had increased to 43.6 billions — $870 
per capita. 

In 1890 it had increased to 65 billions^ — $1,036 
per capita. 

In 1900 it had increased to over 90 billions — 
$1,200 per capita. 

These figures are official and are as nearly cor- 
rect as it is possible to get them. 

They are significant >ini several ways. First, they 
show conclusively the effect of machinery on pro- 
duction of wealth. 

During the period from 1850 to 1870, the reaper 
and mower, the sewing machine, the power loom, 
the railway, the telegraph, arid numerous other im- 
portant inventions were exploited on a scale hither- 
to unknown. 

The increase of capital was over 400 per cent. 
While a large part of the total increase of the 
period was due to^ the settlement of hitherto worth- 



56 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

less lands in central and western states, by our own 
people, probably no futin-e period will show such a 
•percentage development as this. We have here the 
combined production of machinery and the in- 
crease of land values. True, the total increase has 
been greater in the last twenty years, but the per- 
centage O'f increase has not been exceeded. 

Notwithstanding our per capita increase of 
W'ealth has been over 400 per cent in fifty years', 
poverty is on the increase, and a smaller per cen- 
tage of people own their homes and business to- 
day than in 1850. 

This we might reasonably infer alsoi from the 
fact of the great fortunes already referred to. 

It may be accepted as a principle of economics 
that when one man gets more than the average, 
some other man gets less. And, generally speak- 
ing, ivhen one man gets more than he earns, some 
other man earns more than he gets. 

It is true that the sum^ total of our multi-million- 
aires' wealth is not a majority of the grand total, 
but SO' far as active capital is concerned, their hold- 
ings are sufficient to doiminate trade and general in- 
dustry, and effectually exploit the masses. 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 57 

The wealth invested in real estate is enormous 
and constitutes about 70 per cent of the whole, yet 
it is fixed, and, outside of taxes^ does not enter in- 
to active competition in the business of the world. 

While a few millions of dollars invested in some 
special line of manufacturing v\fill all but mouopO'- 
Hze that industry and send its product to the ends 
of the earth, the same amount would scarcely buy 
an acre of bare ground in many of our citids'. 
Hence it is always weli in studying- statistics oi to- 
tals tO' analyze the integral parts of it. Many poli- 
ticians would have us believe that on account of the 
higher total wealth and per capita wealth that it 
necessarily follows that the common people are 
more prosperous, but that does not necessarily fol- 
low. 

The total wealth of Rome at the begin'ning of its 
fall was enormous, in fact, the greatest it had ever 
been, and the per capita amount also the largest. 
Yet the unequal division of it made a few immense- 
ly wealthy and the many, paupers and slaves. 

This is true in any city. The per capita wealth is' 
high, still vv^e find here millionaires and paupers 
side by side. 



&8 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

It is a fact of common observation that where so- 
ciety is the most highly developed, where machine- 
ry has reached its highest state of perfection, where 
land values are the highest and organization of in- 
dustry the most complete, there you will always 
find the greatest poverty. Since every city in the 
W'orld gives the same testimony, w^e cannot doubt it. 

Is' there then no hope for civilization ? Must we 
helplessly read our epitaph on the ruins of past 
civilizations and make no effort to^ emancipate hu- 
manity? God forbid. 

TJic mistakes of tlic past arc our richest luritagc, 
if 1VC rightly interpret and use them. 

Another set of statistics are often quoted to show 
the prosperity of the common people, and that is the 
deposits in the savings banks. 

Now, whil-e the total of the deposits is large and 
the number of depositors also large, the fact is that 
many of the individual 'deposits are for nearly the 
full amount allowed by law, while the greater num- 
ber of the deposits are in small amounts. 

The concentration of capital and the growing 
scarcity of safe investments, together with the coiv 
stantly falling rate of interest, induces many com- 



|..: THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. &a 

parative wealthy people to deposit their money in 
savings banks. 

Another important source is that thousands of 
former independent tradesmen, who once put their 
earnings into their own enterprises, now that they 
are employees of others, deposit their savings in the 
banks. 

Modern stock-jobbing, re-organizing and combi- 
ning makes these securities precarious for the small 
investor. The large amount of water in oiu* mod- 
ernj "Industrials" may well cause people to put 
their money where it is safe-guarded by all that law 
can give. 

Large savings banks deposits may not mean pros- 
perity for the masses, but rather a dread oi the fu- 
ture and a lack of personal enterprise. 

Still another s'et of statistics is often quoted to 
show our prosperity and that is the increase in gen- 
eral bank resources. 

For the six years from Jan. 1895 to Jan. 1901, 
the increase in national bank resources was over 60 
per cent. In other words it rose from $3,422,000,- 
000 to $5,435,000,000, an increase of over $2,0000,- 
000,000. At the sam'e time private and state banks, 



60 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

and loan and trust companies increased $1,700,- 
000,000. This accounts for nearly $4,000,000,000 
of the above $15,000,000,000, total increase of 
wealth for the country during the time, A large 
proportion, surely. 

This enormous amount of capital was forced in- 
to the channels of trade for the purpose, largely, of 
re-organizing our industries. Money that hereto- 
fore had been invested in fixed property and in in- 
dividual enterprises, rapidly became mobile, and 
filled the vaults oi the banks. 

Now, it is a well-established fact that when 
wealth is well distributed, banks have difficulty in 
keeping their necessary reserve. There is always 
a good demand for money where there is individual 
enterprise. Note this fact in all new co'untries. 

As wealth concentrates, it has a double reason for 
seeking bank vaults. First, the few have vastly 
more than they need, and seco^ndly, the employee, 
having no enterprise of his own to absorb his sav- 
ings, naturally turns to the savings bank. During 
the past few years, enormioirs simis have been' re- 
quired to effect the consolidation of industries. It 
is evident, I think, from this that large bank re- 



I THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 01 

sources do not necessarily mean an increase of 
wealth, or prosperity, for the masses. In reality, 
it may m'ean the reverse. 

Refer ringi to the total wealth of the U. S. in 
1900, as found approximately, 90 billions of dol- 
lars, and the per capita, $1,200, and in connection 
therewith the generally accepted estimate of the 
wealth of Messrs. Carnegie and Rockefeller as be- 
ing $500,000,000 each, I am constrained tO' do a 
little figuring.. (Rockefeller is mow reputed to be 
worth near $1,000,000,000.) 

If these two individauls control $1,000,000,000 
out of the $90,000,000,000, then' it follows that 
833,333 men have been pauperized for their benefit. 
There is no^ other possible way. For every man 
who is worth a million, 833 men must give up all. 

True, our statistics do' not show sO' large a num- 
ber of paupers, and the reason is evident. Double 
this number of men lose one-half of their per capi- 
ta, or a much larger number lose a lesser per cent of 
it and still maintain a wretched existence by means 
of their labors. A laboring man without capital is 
a helpless object. He can be little more than a 
part of the machine he uses, and must glad- 



62 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

ly surrender all his energies for a bare existence. 

Think of the condition existing in a free country, 
of two individuals pauperizing nearly a millioii peo- 
ple, in order to satisfy their avaricious greed. We 
are obliged to turn back to ancient history for such 
a parallel. 

Will libraries and universities, useful as they are, 
compensate this million of people for tbe sacrifice 
of that capital which means an independent busi- 
ness and a hom'e ? I think not. Nor is this all. 
These poor creatures and their posterity forever 
must be loaded with the burden of the annual inter- 
est on the enormous suut, and the end is not yet. 
Still these multi-millionaires pose before the world 
as models of Christianity. They are doing as they 
would be done by? They are trying earnestly to 
have "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heav- 
en?" What a glorious object lesson for any in- 
teliigent child, viewed from either a theological or 
a financial standpoint. 

Now, I do not wish to be at all personal in this 
matter. I have used the names of these two gentle- 
men as types of our excessively ricb. Personally, 
they are not bad men. Quite on the contrary. 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. (53 

They have ofteni shown the human heart within, 
and' labored' earnestly to do some good to their suf- 
fering fellow men. They are the result of a wrong 
social systemiand of unjust laws. They and the pau- 
perized million are the effect and not the cause. 

Being human they have only done what every 
other man would have gladly 'done under present 
conditions, if opportunity and ability permitted. 

It is estimated by conservative men that 5,000 
men to-day control over one-half of the wealth O'f 
the United States. This means that the real per 
capita, outside of our excessively rich, is less than 
$600. 

In 1850, there were no millionaires, the per capi- 
ta was $308. While our total wealth has increased 
from 7 to 90 billions, the actual per capita of the 
masses has but doubled. 

Is there no lesson in this? 

Statistics show that the concentration is being 
rapidly accelerated by means of perfected machin'- 
ery, land rents and the organization of industry. 
Where will it end ? 

It should also be remembered that so- long as our 
present property laws obtain, that it is all but use- 



64 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

less to fight corporatio'ii'S and trusts. If the indi- 
vidual is unlimited in possessing wealth, it will 
only necessitate a change in the form of securities 
from corporation stock to individual bonds, in or- 
der to carry on any trust. 

Is there no better way ? The child nurses a pet 
cub and tenderly cares for it until finally it becomes 
a powerful, savage beast and at last destroys its 
benefactor. Is it not time our "Cub" was killed? 

It is unfortunate that our census does not in- 
vestigate more thoroughly the economic and so- 
cial features of our civilization. 

That it does not is mainly for two reasons. 
First, the general ignorance of the necessity for 
such action, and secondly, the desire of the wealthy 
to suppress the real conditions of labor. 

Investigations have recently been made as to 
the home-owning of American people, with this re- 
sult : Over 50 per cent live in rented property, 
more than oue-half of the balance live in moTtgag- 
ed homes, while less than one-fourth of our people 
own the roof that covers their heads. 

This startling fact is the more signifiicant in con- 
nection with the millions of homes given away by 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 65 

the government during the past half century, and 
the further fact that each family of five persons 
should have $6,000, clear oi all indebtedness, as 
per the per capita of the last returns. 

If such conditions cam be brought about in so 
sliO'rt a time, how long will it take tO' pauperize a 
large portion of our people. It is true that capital 
will not allow labor to be so poorly paid that it can 
not get some return from it. There is no profit in 
a public pauper. On the contrary there is absolute 
expense to support him. Hence capital must allow 
labor enough for self support and to consume a 
part of what capital has to sell. 

That we are fast becoming a nation of wage- 
earners, no reasonable person will deny, and our 
great middle class is rapidly disappearing. 

Capital can exploit labor easier through the 
channels of manufacture and transportation, than 
through landlordism in agriculture. 

This accounts for our farm lands being so long 
left in the hands of small owners and the tenant 
system of other countries not established here. 
Landlordism has only been developed in our cities 
as yet, but let the opportunities for manufacture 



66 fiCONOMlG LIBERTY VS. 

and transportation be monopolized, and the 
capital of the wealthy will at once seek farm lands 
for general investment. This has been done in 
other countries long ago, and would have been 
done here but for the rich field opened up by our 
inventors, mechanics and engineers. 

I have already describe'd the formation of a 
partnership by two independent business' men, and 
pointed out the wisdom of the union. 

I have also shown the next step in economic or- 
ganization of industry, vs. the formation of a cor- 
poration, and have described the necessity for com- 
bining capital in order to carry on great enter- 
prises. 

The same underlying force (competition) that 
inipels partnership and demands a corporation, still 
acts when the corporatioii has a competitor, and a 
union of corporations, or a trust, is the logical re- 
sult. 

One of these steps is just as rational as the oth- 
er, and no power, under our present social organi- 
zation, could prevent it. The trust has within it a 
greater power for good than a corporation. Eco- 
nomically, it is the acme of perfection in business. 



i THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 67 

It is more economical in administration, and has a 
better opportunity of knowing the supply and de- 
mand of the market. There is less waste, less risk, 
and if rightly managed for the general good, better 
wages can be paid, better goods produced, and the 
product sold cheaper than under competition of in- 
dividual concerns. 

The fact that trusts do' not generally do all of 
these things is not the fault of the trust, but O'f the 
management of it. In other words, the making of 
the organization a machine tO' enrich the few di- 
rectors O'f it at the expense of both employees and 
the consuming public. 

The true remedy lies, not in destroying the tiiist, 
but in its proper control. 

With all the recent huUaboo about trusts 
and mergers, and with some oi our foremost men 
claiming much good and little evil from them, 
while other equally prominent men claim the re- 
verse, it is difficult for the average man to get a ra- 
tional view of the question. 

We often get the clearest view of an abstract 
problem' by comparison with some familiar phe- 
nomenon of every "day life. 



68 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

There is, it seems to me, a peculiar similiarity 
between the human body, and the body politic. If 
the human body is disorganized, disease follows. 
If any part is not properly nourished, it becomes 
weak. If any part becomes unduly stimulated or 
irritated, it calls an extra amount of the life blood 
and force to that place. If the blood is impure from 
bad food and unsanitary surroundings, the im- 
purity may produce fatal diseases, or it may be 
thrown off as in boils. 

Thus it is with the body politic. 

When production and distributioiii are disorgan- 
ized, the body politic is sick, i. e. hard times. 

If any industry is neglected, it declines, as did 
our shipping industry during the great develop- 
ment of our Western States. 

If any particular industry becomes over-promi- 
nent, as mineral fields and oil fields, and undue 
amount of capital flows there, and an inevitable re- 
action follows. 

When our industrial system' becomes corrupted 
by selfishness and poisoned by competition, then 
the trust acts as a safety valve, as a boil, to give re- 
lief. The boil may be painful, but it is better than 



} • . THE "WARFARE OP WEALTH. 69 

the effect of the poisoni continuing in the system. 
So the trust, which the boil on the body pohtic, 
may cause us much annoyance, to get rid of it, yet 
it is better than periodic hard times. 

Now the quesion naturally arises, are the boils 
necessary to human existence? Evidently, if the 
body is perfectly normal and healthy, they are not, 
for "they are then absent. 

If our industrial life can be properly organized, 
I believe that trusts and corporations can be also 
■eliminated from the body politic. 

As the normal, natural co'ndition of the human 
body is health, so also the natural condition of the 
body politic should be that of health, prosperity 
and peace. All parts should work in harrn'ony for 
the good of the whode body. No part should ab- 
s'orb more than its share of the life force and none 
should be neglected. Now, nO' intelligent person 
would be contented with the poulticing of this boil, 
neither would he condemn the eruption of poison- 
ous matter, but he would use the boil as an index 
of a trouble, deeper-seated and more dangerous. 

He might use somie remedy for temporary re- 
lief, but he would at once begin a course of treat- 



70 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. ' . 

ment to purify his blood. Nay, the skillful phy- 
siciaiTi would do more than this. He would look 
to the sanitary surroundings of his patient, and see 
that the causes of impure blood were removed. 
In that way, only, could the trouble be eradicated 
with certainty and permanency. 

So it is, I think, with the trusts, the eruptions 
on the body politic. They indicate that some- 
thing is wrong in the industrial system,. While we 
may find it necessary, temporarily, to apply local 
remedies for relief from their extortion and op- 
pression, we must look deeper into economic science 
for the cause and permanent cure. 

Our trouble permeates all our social system, and 
is of long standing. It is a combination of ills, the 
chief of which is competition in business, due to 
private ownership of property and individual initia- 
tive. 

These have been brought on by the unsanitary 
environment of human selfishness and love of 
power. 

Any remedy that has any hope of permanency, 
or real effectiveness, must keep this end in view. 

That the successful application of an efficient 



^HE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 71 

remedy will he a slow and somewhat difficult pro- 
cess, I am free to admit, but that it is impossible, I 
emphatically deny. 

We hear much nowadays, relative to the con- 
trol of trusts, and it bids fair to become a leading 
question in national politics. Trusts or the concen- 
tration of capital and the organization of labor 
along any line are the rational result of private 
capitalism- and competition. They can no more be 
eliminated than can partnership or the specializing 
of labor. They are but one phase of economic 
evolution. Neither can they be legally controlled, 
without changing our fundamental laws regard- 
ing private capital, and individual initiative. As re- 
gards' publicity, it would be difficult to get or to use 
any more information than we already have in the 
government reports and the press. We know that 
capital is receiving much more than a reasonable 
share of the product of enterprise, arid is exploit- 
ing labor, both as producer and consumer. We 
know that the capital engaged in manufacturing by 
trusts averages about one-half water. Yet so long 
as it pays good dividends the stock will s'ell, and no 
one can prohibit it. There is virtually no differ- 



t^ ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

ence between watering stock, as it is done by the 
steel trust, and in raising the miarket price of limit- 
ed issues, as is done by the Standard Oil Company. 
The dividends govern it in both cases, and' the loss 
to the investor would be the same by a dechne. 
Publicity, such as corporations' would allow, would 
serve to help the investing capitalist only, and he 
s'eems amply able to care for himself now. 

Then again, any law that would effectual- 
ly limit or decrease the dividends of any 
corporation would only serve tO' change the 
the form of the holdings from corporate 
stocks to private bonds. We now have hundreds 
of individuals who' are able to buy many of our 
trusts outright, or in any event, cotdd easily give 
personal bonds to' the present owners for their 
stock. It would require only a change in the form 
of the paper, and New Jersey would undoubtedly 
legalize the change if necessary. This would bring 
the matter back to first principles, and no remedy 
would avail, because, limiting the amount of pri- 
vate property in any one case would prevent any 
great enterprise and block progress. It is probable 
tliat our capitalists will seek to gain time by discus- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 73 

sion, and that our people will get wisdom in this, 
as in other matters, only by mistakes and painful 
experience. In the end, however, it will surely be 
found that we will either destroy our own indus^ 
trial and po-litical institutions, by a revolution,, or, 
if pro'perly enlightened, will select the better way 
of allowing labor to own the implements of produc- 
tion, through collective or governmental control of 
all industries. 



74 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 



CHAPTER II. 

HISTORY OV I^CONOMICS AND AN INTKRPRI^TATIGN 
01^ ITS M0D1;RN DKVliLOPMIiNT. 

Oh, sometimes gleams upon our sight, 
Through present wrong, Ihe eternal right : 
And step by step, since time began 
We see the steady gain of man. 

The student of history is accustomed to filling 
his head with a record of dates, battles and politi- 
cal rulers. These have long constituted history. 
The people, their ideals and the thought of the 
times, the real forces of civilization, are entirely 
ignored. Hence it is easier to understand why 
the people of one civilization have never inquired 
into' the cause of the decay of their predecessors. 
The laws and customs of former nations were, to 
a large extent, copied by the new. Their errors 
were appropriated along w^ith their best achiev- 
ments. They may have changed the forms of their 
religion or of political government, but the funda- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 75 

mental principles of law as related to property, 
they never did change. The earliest historic times 
are filled with accounts of individual properties 
and the transfer of same. Oftentimes the property 
was held collectively but never as the heritage of 
the people. The king or other ruler treated the 
whole of his subjects and property as private chat- 
tels'. The development of liberty has been slow 
and painful, yet it has made much progress. That 
the cause of the decline and decay of civilization 
was never investigated by their successors is evi- 
dent from the fact that each succeeding civilization 
conitained the same 'destructive elements in its or- 
ganization, while employing various systems of 
■government and relig-ion. 

Let us briefly trace the history of civilization 
from Egyptian times to the present and endeavor 
to find, if possible, a rational solution to its rise 
and fall. 

The Egyptians were, in many respects, a won- 
derful people. Perhaps no other, save the Chinese, 
ever kept their nation intact so long. The govern- 
ment of the Egyptians was always an absolute mon- 
archy. Their temples and tombs of royalty are 



76 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

still the wonder and admiration of the world. The 
knowledge they gained in some branches of science 
and mathematics is the found'ation of our knowl- 
edge of those subjects to-day. Their artisans were 
skilled in many lines. Their abilities, however, 
did not extend tO' complicated machines and we 
find everywhere the work performed by sheer hu- 
man labor, with little attempt to harness the forces 
of nature. As they were limited in their indus- 
trial operations to what could; be done by hand, no 
great accumulation of wealth v/as possible, save 
by the kings, who held many thousands of their 
subjects as personal slaves, and also- had the power 
to tax the rest. 

Their intellectual life was much obscured and 
limited by a gloomy religion. Selfishness seems 
to have been a marked characteristic of the rulers. 
No expen'se was spared to provide them palaces 
and tombs while the masses were left to shift for 
themselves. 

Progress was necessarily slow, hence it is diffi- 
cult to state the time of the beginning of the de- 
cline in their civilization. It is certain, however, 
that the people became oppressed and that the more 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 7i 

courageous of them left their native valley for the 
isles across the Mediterranean. Here they joined 
with other eastern people who had also fled from 
oppression, and then, for the first time in history, 
we see the process of the rise of a civilization. 

The early Greeks were, for the mo'st part, either 
mountaineers or sailors. The topography of the 
country prevented road building and communinca- 
tioo v/as largely by boats. The people were inde- 
pendent and liberty-loving, to- a marked degree. 
Great cities were few and wealth was well distribut- 
ed. The growth of a national patriotism was rapid. 
As there were but few cities and nO' considerable 
amount of machinery in use, the concentration of 
wealth was slow. But ere long the merchant and 
the favored land-holder forged ahead and noble- 
men and slaves were the result. The masses, how- 
ever, were not soon reduced by these means and 
probably that fact served, in a way, to pro'long the 
national life. 

Then, too, their ideals, (beauty and freedom,) 
were not conducive to the accumulation oi personal 
wealth. Their great men were first architects, 
sculptors, philosophers, poets and warriors, arid the 



?8 ECONOMIC L,li3ERTY V^. 

acciuiuilatiiMi of wealth was a secondary considera- 
tion. As time rolled on. the inheritance of power 
and wealth began to tell on the nobility by making 
them more efifeminate, at the same time the poor 
became more ignorant and oppressed. The more 
enterprising of the poor, who could do so, left the 
country for other lands, where opportunity w-as 
more equal. Her architects and builders, sculptors 
and other artisans went west and assisted in build- 
ing the Roman world. Their work still permeates 
anil adorns the ruins of Roman glory and our mod- 
ern rennaissance is but a copy of their combined 
effort. With effeminate wealth, and degraded la- 
bor, even Greece could not survive. 

New civilizations are not generally drawn from 
any on-e source. 

They are, however, always begim by the poor of 
every country. Poverty, not wealth, is what clears 
the forests and breaks the prairie. Wealth follows 
only where physical comforts are assured. Thus 
we see the great Roman Empire begun by the farm- 
er, on the plains of Italy. 

Certain conditions of their environment caused 
the Romans to become a war-like people and mili- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 79 

tary glory to be their ideal of life. They were 
more or less siirrotindecl by semi-civilized and bar- 
baric tribes, whose animal instinct caused them to 
continually seek existence by plundering weaker 
and more defenseless people. Rome itself was 
founded as an out-post to guard the frontier of the 
Italians against the Etruscans. I will not attempt 
a consecutive history of either the Greeks or Ro- 
mans, but rather outline the cause of the rise and 
fall of their nations. 

So long as Rome was engaged in building up 
her empire, so long as her i'deal was national glory, 
her wealth, although enormous', was not private. 
Her great buildings were for the people. Her col- 
iseum, theatres, baths, forum, pantheon and en- 
gineering works were for the general public, while 
even the noblemen- of the empire lived plainly. 

But ere long the day came when private selfish-- 
ness overcame patriotism. Shrewd politicians 
found that intrigue and bribery could obtain the 
coveted positions which formerly had to be won 
by valor on the field of battle. The economic laws 
which had hitherto been deemed just and right 
were now used in a n'ew way to oppress the poor 



so ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. \ . ~ 

for the "benefit of the rich. Inherited wealth or 
pozver is not conducive to effort,, and lack of effort 
always begets weakness and degradation. 

Wlien the leaders become cornipt, it is but na- 
tural that the populace should follow their example. 
With high ideals, replaced by selfishness', there is 
little to hope for. The pretorian guard, the suc- 
cessor to the grandest military force on earth, at 
first became the tool of the conspirators and then 
the implement oi national destruction. 

What an object lesson for modern politicians ! 
How long will it be safe to buy public office and 
power with gold? Rome rose and fell. Histor- 
ians may assign various causes and draw different 
conclusions ; the pulpit may ascribe the effects to 
religious matters and the politician to the forms of 
government, but one fact stares us in the face and 
that is, that so long as wealth remained either well 
distributed or was nationalized, Rome prospered. 
When that wealth became private property and was 
more and more concentrated, Rome fell. How far 
the ideals of the people influenced this result, or 
were influenced by it, I leave the reader to judge. 
Sure it is, however^ that these conditions are always 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 81 

found in the growth and in the decay of all civiliza- 
tions. Furthermore, where they have not taken 
place, civilization has remained stationary. Civili- 
zation may be apparently progressive during the 
early stages of concentration of wealth, but the 
time soon comes when the class distinction, due to 
wealth, begins toi tell on the ideals of the people 
and decline ensues. 

The civilization of western Europe sprang from 
many sources. The influence of Rome, at her best, 
went a long way toward forming their laws and 
customs. During the dark ages, there was but little 
surplus wealth' and that was held by either the 
royalty or the church. 

Private fortunes were unknown. The insecuri- 
ty of wealth, on one hand, and the religious ideals 
on the other, made its accumulation difficult and' 
undesirable tO' a large extent. The church favored 
poverty and ignorance, as the best means of gain- 
ing her own ends. The oppression and degrada- 
tion of the masses precluded progress or even de- 
cent living. This union of the church and state, 
for the expolitation of the masses is the central 
feature of the 'dark ages. Grand palaces' and chat- 



82 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. | 1 

eaiix, on the one hand, and maigiiificent cathedrals, 
monasteries and abbies, on the other, were the 
price paid by the people for protection of a miser- 
able life on earth and the hope of a better one be- 
yond the tomb. Wars, political and religious, con- 
stantly absorbed the emergies and res'ources of the 
people. Their ideal was religious faith in the life 
to' come. The people did not think, they believed. 
To ask question's was blasphemy; to investigate 
was heresy; to oppose was treason. There was 
but little of civilization at the beginning of the dark 
ages, except the dying embers of corrupt Rome, 
and that was quickly absorbed by the church. It 
is true that there was no appreciable progress, until 
after the Reformation, or revival of free thought. 
The people had no political, religious or industrial 
liberty, and furthermore, were densely ignorant. 
There was no rise of civilization, hence nO' decline. 
The Reformation broiight a change. Freedom 
of thought, along religious lines, came first. In- 
dividualism was born anew, but with it came the 
resurrection of the old Roman laws of private 
ownership of property. The arts and sciences be- 
ing practically in their infancy, there was but little 



: • O^HE warfare op WEALTH. g3 

machir.'ery or commerce, hence agriculture was the 
chief resource of the people. Those nearest the 
royalty sought favors of large land grants and all 
royal personages held immense tracts of the best 
lands. It was readily perceived that by landlord- 
ism' the people could be as easily exploited as by 
virtually owning them. This was the beginning of 
the nobility of the countries of westerm Europe. 
How well it was planned is evidenced by its effects 
even to-day. Large families have live'd in oppu- 
lence and luxury ever since, on the rent of land, 
the title to which they assume by the authority of 
the king, while the millions of their tenants toil in 
poverty and misery in order to pay the rent. This 
is well illustrated by the condition of sorrowing 
Ireland. 

We would rebel at such a situation in America, 
yet so far as the tenants are concerned', it matters 
but little whether there be one landlord or many, 
so long as the same rent has to be paid, and a very 
large majority of our own people are tenants. We 
have this advantage, however, that as we have 
relatively many landlords, the wealth is more dis- 
tributed, and the tendency to class distinction, so 



84 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

far as landiordism is concerned, is as yet greatly 
lessened. 

As time went on, the oppression due to landlord- 
ism and also the religious persecution of the 
churchi, caused many of the poor, but energetic, of 
western Eiurope to immigrate across the sea where 
land was free and' thought untrammelled. Strange 
as it often seems to the modern student, they 
brought along and firmly established here the same 
woes they fled from, namely, private ownership of 
property and fixed' religioirs dogmas. The courage 
and fortitude of tlie Puritans would be a glorious 
page in all history, but for their narrow-minde'd 
selfishness and egotism. Their suffering resulted 
only in a change of masters, so< far as religion was 
concerned and a perpetuation of industrial slavery 
for their posterity. 

As tlie country about them became settled, 
and a town started, the location of the land 
commanded a value as rent and the more 
energetic of the poor pushed out into the 
western wilderness, where they might have all 
the fruits of their toil by having no rents to pay. 
This process has been repeated by decades until 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 85 

the whole Mississippi valley and, latter, the valleys 
of the Pacific coast, have been brought under the 
plow. The march has ever been westward, and 
always by the oppressed tenants, seeking free land. 
Has this no meaning in economics? It seems to 
me it has the deepest significance and that a reme- 
dy for the evil must be speedily found. The west- 
ward march has stopped, because the shores of the 
Pacific have been reached, beyond which lies a 
country already over-populated. We can go no 
farther. Already the reaction is beginning to be 
felt and conditions of labor are rapidly approach- 
ing the standard of the old world. Favored loca- 
tions command ever higher and higher rents. But 
as I have before noted, the great number and gen- 
eral distribution of our landlords causes this rent 
to be invested broaHcast over the land, and so bene- 
fit all to a much larger extent than it does where 
there are a few landlords and they partly or wholly 
aliens. 

Then, too, the rapid advance in farm machinery 
and in transportation, have allowed the tenant to 
keep ahead of the rent and still leave him a comfor- 
table existence. Just how long this will continue. 



86 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

it is difficult to say, but one thing is sure and that 
is, that as population increases, rents zvill increase, 
and the part left to labor zvill be less and less, until 
the minimum amount for subsistence is readied. 

I have already shown how the ownership of ma- 
chinery by another, deprives the operative of a part 
of the fruits of his toil, for the exclusive benefit of 
the owner of the machines. In agriculture, the 
tenant usually owns his tools, hence is not handi- 
capped in that line. Even with this advantage and 
the benefits oi local investments of the rents, the 
struggle- is' sufficiently acute to cause thousands of 
our people to leave home and kindred and all the 
conveniences and pleasures of civilization and rush 
like mad cattle to the opening of a few thousand 
acres of wild prairie. The recent opening of for- 
mer Indian lands shows the condition that already 
exists in a part of the country, which less than thir- 
ty years ago was settled by homesteaders'. An- 
other illustration of this same condition is in the 
exodus of farmers from this same section to the 
Canadian northwest. Over twenty-five thousand 
have removed to this section in the first half of 
1902. Cheaper land is' given as their only reason 



I THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 87. 

for changing-. Surely the advantages gained' must 
be great to offset the rigor of that frigid climate. 
These may be straws, but they show clearly the ten- 
dency of the wind. 

But it is not in farm^ rents that the oppression is 
being felt most. The prices of city property are 
mounting to ever dizzier heights. Bare land in 
New York city has sold at the rate of more than 
$23,000,000 per acre, and the enormous prices de- 
manded for it have forced buildings twenty stories 
into the air in order to pay the land rent and a divi- 
dend, to the detriment and personal discomfort of 
the toiling thousands who occupy them. Think of 
the few people living or doing business upon an 
acre of such land paying $1,380,000 out of their 
annual earnings for the privilege of occupying that 
location exclusive of the use of the buiTdings. 
This enormous amount, moreover, goes into the 
pockets of private individuals, who may have done 
nothing to give the land its value. Is it any won- 
der that an exorbitant price must be put upon their 
product in order for these tenants to live. 

Our economic conditions and history reminds 
me of the fable of the lion and the hyena. The 



88 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

lion was peacefully eating his supper one evening, 
and was priding himself oo being the king of all 
beasts. None dare face him in combat. Suddenly 
an unearthly screech fell on his ears. He had 
never heard such a hideous' sound before. He 
thought he knew all the animals of the plain and 
jungle by their cry, but this was far more blood- 
curdling than any he had yet heard. Again it 
sounded and nearer at hand, louder, longer and 
more terrible. He sliook wi:h fear. Suiely this 
ni'ust be some new and terrible monster. If he re- 
mained in the open to fight, be might be 'destroyed 
and a new king of beasts be recognized. No, he 
would seek the jungle and watch for a better op- 
portunity. He trotted away into the dark and kept 
well under the cover of trees and rocks. Ever and 
anon came the terrible cries of his purs'uer, closer 
and closer, until he could hear its fiendish laugh be- 
tween its cries of rage. The lion traveled far and 
fast over hills, across streams and swamps, and 
through gloomy forests, still pursued by his terri- 
ble enemy. At last he came to a narrow canyon, 
whose sides w>ere too steep to scale. He crept to 
the farther end and slunk back into a recess in the 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 89 

rocks. He could go farther. Again the fearful 
cry came close at hand: His fear mow vanished, 
his native courage returned and he resolved to s-ell 
his life as dearly as possible. He faced squarely 
around and with a mighty roar he met his pursuer.' 
He stood face to face with a cowering, trembling 
hyena. He stopped and thus soliloquised. "You 
miserable, skulking, dirty puppy. You have near- 
ly scared the life out of me. I can kill a hundred 
such as you before breakfast, and here you have 
chased me many miles by your terrible noise. I 
will never again run until I am; whipped." Saying 
which he laid low the miserable, trembling coyote, 
and m'ade a meal of him. 

Labor is the lion, which has been chased half 
way round the earth by the hyena of private capi- 
tal. Its horrible and false cry, that labor lives only 
by its bounty, has caused the chill of terror to per- 
meate the whole fabric of labor and frightened it 
from its native hearth. Labor has continually fled 
before capital, in search of some protection, or 
hoped-for advantage, until now it is brought 
to bay by a wall of Filipinos', Japanese and Chinese. 
Its native courage, due to its' intelligence, is fast 



90 ECONOMIC Lli5ERTY Vg. 

replacing fear, and already it is turning in its 
might for the conflict. The organization of labor 
and the fierceness of its strikes means nothing else. 
I^Iethinks that when labor once sees how insignifi- 
cant and weak is its opponent it will marvel at its 
own timidity and bewail its former lack of courage. 
Surely, an institution founded on human selfish- 
ness, legalized because of its antiquity and enforc- 
ed bv a false sentiment, cannot be an invincible ene- 
my to justice. 

Yes, private capitalism and its resultant oppres- 
sion, have forced labor from one country to anoth- 
er, half round the globe, within historic times. 
So long as there were undeveloped natural resour- 
ces farther west, the process went on. The hope 
of labor to become the oppressor in the new field, 
assisted the operation, and gave courage to those at 
home to hold out the stronger. 

The natural resources of the last country are 
already largely appropriated. There is nowhere 
else to go. This must be the battle field and here 
nmst the great questions of economic liberty be 
answered ! 

Private capital is concentrating and giving its 



; THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 91 

last war-cry in the hopes of longer keeping up the 
flight, but the lion is turning. 

Organized labor, enlightened with truth and 
armed with justice, is meeting organized capital. 
The schools are putting an implement in the hands 
of labor that may well make capitalists shudder 
and seek homes back acros's the Atlantic. The 
persistent efforts of our millionaires to form* al- 
liances with the royalty and aristocracy of the old 
world are not without reasons. Private capitalism 
will meet its Waterloo in the United States, and 
class distinctions be leveled here before elsewhere. 
There are many rasons why this should be so. 
First among which is the superior intelligence of 
the masses. Probably no great country in the 
world has so many intelligent and well educated 
toilers- as the United States. Ignorance is the 
friend and accomplice of oppression. Intelligence 
is the handmaid of liberty and justice. "Ye shall 
know the truth and the truth shall make you free." 

Therefore, a rational solution is more likely to be 
found here than elsewhere. 

Secondly, we have no large, well-defined so- 
cial classes, no aristocracy due to heredity and but 



92 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

little inherited wealth, so far. Most of our weal- 
thy men have accumulated their own wealth and 
have been constant workers from childhood. This 
also means much, for any man who labors' is more 
thani apt to have his heart on the side of labor, or 
at least some sympathy with it. Already many of 
our wealthiest men are seeking for the better way in 
society and are alive to the injustice of many of 
our institutions and laws. 

Thirdly, we have already broken two of the 
three fetters of human liberty, namely, political 
and religious oppression. We have tasted the 
s'weets of liberty in both of these fields and found 
them good. There is left no- organized ally to pri- 
vate capitalism and when the bugle calls on the bat- 
tle for economic freedom, then for the first time in 
history will it stand trembling and alone, a miser- 
able hyena, fit only for the contempt of labor. 

Nor is there any present hope for improvement 
along the existing lines of economics. The inher- 
ent weakness of our form of government and also 
the growing ideals of wealth among our people, 
both preclude it. Our government is to-day at the 
beck and call of the capitalists. They furnish cam- 



; THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 93 

paign funds tO' elect their friends to office, and 
these friends let nothing deter them from execut- 
ing their will. Our country was recently treated 
to the spectacle of seeing its President and also 
the governors of our two greatest states begging 
of half a dozen greedy capitalists that they would 
desist from freezing tO' death twenty-five millions 
of our people, I am not condemning the President 
and governors, far from it. They may have done 
there best, under the existing law. But I d'oi de- 
plore the laws under which such a condition' can 
exist. It ought to be an object lesson to the masses 
and would be were it not for the fact that they 
are so intently engaged in keeping body and soul 
together and trying to emulate the coal barons. 

Any republican form' of government depends 
almost exclusively for its power upon the intelli- 
gence and sentiment of its people. Now, this senti- 
ment is the outgrowth of ideals. The ideals of the 
Greeks were beauty and freediom ; those of the Ro- 
mans, military glory and power, while those of the 
dark ages were religious zeal and faith in the 
church. The ideals of the early colonists and also 
of the framers' of our government were political 



94 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

and religious liberty and equality. That these 
ideals still held sway forty years ago, is evidenced 
by the tremeiid'ous' struggle to free the negroes 
from political bondage. That some part of these 
ideals still exists was shown by the enthusiasm 
for Cuban liberty at the beginning of the Spanish- 
American war. 

TJie love of liberty is still strong, hut the fuU 
conception of the zvord is not yet appreciated. 
During the last twenty-five years, our ideals have 
nraterially changed. We are beginning to worship 
the almighty dollar above all else. Considerations 
for struggling humanity are cast aside when 
wealth is menaced, and almost the entire energies 
of our people are applied to wealth getting. In 
fact, the competition for wealth has become so se- 
vere that the masses ave kept busy to get enough 
to furnish a decent living. Our newspapers and 
periodicals continually teem with the accounts of 
our increased wealth, our growing commerce, bal- 
ance of tra'de, and the doings of our millioniares. 
Our wealthy men, no matter by what means their 
wealth was accumulated, are pointed out to the 
children' as models of success, which they are ex- 



Tttfi WARFARE OF WEALTH. 95 

horted to emulate. Laws galore are passed for 
their pleasure, security and financial benefit. The 
speeches of the money kings are hearlded through- 
out the land and much defference is paid to their 
views on all questions, while the carefully studied 
words of our best scholars find scant publication 
and few readers. Wealth has become the standard 
and society is classified according to its bank ac- 
count. Ancestry, ability, personal records, or pres- 
ent moral worth, count for but little against a sur- 
plus of dollars. Wealth is the virus that makes 
one immune from: social ostracism. 

In looking over the history of civilization one 
is struck with the following facts : 

First. Where the accumulated wealth has been 
well distributed among or enjoyed by the masses 
of the people there has been rapid progress. 

Second. Where the surplus has been held by the 
ruling class or the church, progress has been very 
slow or entirely checked. 

Third. Where the wealth has been concentrat- 
ed in private hands, civilization has declined. Is 
there no les's'on in this for students of economics? 
Those who have the most leisure fromi physical 



96 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

toil have the most time and energy to devote to 
mental culture. Hence, as a general rule, intelli- 
gence and wealth' go hand in hand, and vice versa, 
ignorance and poverty are boon companions. 
Where the rulers control the accumulated wealthy 
they generally possess a superior intelligence tO' 
their subjects, but inasmuch as they hold their sub- 
jects as quasi property and realize that their own 
safety and prosperity depends on the contentment 
of their subjects, they seldom use the power of 
wealth to excessively oppress them. Their politi- 
cal authority relieves them of the necessity of the 
more tedious but not the less effective method. 
Their subjects are, for the most part, on an equali- 
ty. They have no incentive or opportunity to bet- 
ter their coiidiitions. They live in comparative 
comfort and their ignorance and the fixed condi- 
tion of their lives precludes any ambition. Hence 
there is but little progress. The inventor does not 
spring from such a condition; educators are not 
wanted and reformers are provided with perma- 
nent accomodations behind iron bars. 

When the accumulated wealth of the people is 
well distributed, intelligence will also be distribut- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 97 

ed. Every man is alert and active; invention is 
rife; investigation ol all kinds goes on apace; abili- 
ty and energy are the essentials of success and pro- 
gress' is rapid. The individual realizes the advan- 
tages which wealth can give in production and dis- 
tribution. His own toil is lessened and his com- 
forts increased. He has more time for intellectual 
developmicnt and schools and colleges are common 
and popular. Science and art join hands in har- 
nessing the forces of nature and applying them to 
the wants of man. These are the conditions that 
have existed in the upbuilding of all great civiliza,- 
tions, and they have existed in most parts of the 
United States until recently. I do not deny that 
they exist now to a considerable 'degree, but I af- 
fn-m that they are being rapidly superseded by very 
different conditions. Could opportunity always re- 
main equal ; could labor always reap the reward of 
its effort; could the ambition of superior abilities 
be held in check ; we might hope for continued hap- 
piness even under the existing form of economic 
organization. But can these conditions be main- 
tained? History says no, and experience proves 
her answer correct. 



9S ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. ' . 

Already the opportunity of obtjiining free land 
has practically passed away, and the poor of the 
country are annually required to pay a toll in the 
form of rent, out of the fruits of their labor, for the 
privilege of occupying space. This toll, going in- 
to private pockets makes opportunity at once un- 
equal. Furthermore, the ownership of machinery 
by another often deprives the laborer of a consider- 
able portion of his product. Our government, un- 
der existing law, is not competent to check the am- 
bition of superior abilities. Under private owner- 
ship of capital there is no limit. The law must 
protect the millionaire, as well as thie humble cot- 
tage owner. Since capital has the legal right to in- 
terest and since invested capital draws rent and 
dividends, there is no limit to its increase in time, 
save the ability of labor to pay those tributes and 
still live, yet our ability to produce is always limit- 
ed by natural resources. 

Our aecumulatioii of wealth has increased over 
twelve-fold in^ half a century. Shoukl it continue 
at the same rate, how long will it be before the ia- 
l)or of the country will be unable to pay the rent, 
interest and dividends of accumukat'cd capital es- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 99 

pecially when they are largely 'deprived of the ad- 
vantages of that capital. Already interest rates are 
beginning to fall' and few there are who suspect 
the real cause. Already the burden, if all our 
wealth drew interest at 6 per cent, amounts to $72 
per year for every man, woman and child in our 
country. In 1850, it was but $18. Our per capita 
tax for national government alone has raised from 
fifty cents to seven dollars in less than a century. 
That the masses of our people are poor is not sur- 
prising. Let the average father take out the above 
$79 for each of his family of five, or $395 and then 
begin to live, pay for all provisions, fuel, clothes, 
taxes, rents, doctor's bills, etc., and his savings 
bank account will be small indeed. 

As I have before noted, the ideals of a people de- 
termine to a large extent, their character. If then 
ideals be noble and unselfish, the people wiill be pa- 
triotic and humane. Their laws will be framed for 
justice, tempered with mercy, and their every act 
filled with sympathy and brotherly love. On the 
other hand, if the ideals be selfi'sh in their motives, 
the people soon lose respect for all that is good 
in society, government and religion. The individ- 

L.ofC. 



100 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. . ] 

iial absorbs the energy that shciilcl be given to col- 
lective humanity, and the great benefits accruing 
to organized society are lost to the masses. The 
few eventually become economic lords, and the 
many slaves. That we are well started on this 
road, I believe all fair-minde'd people will admit, 
but that our general intelligence and love of right 
v/ill prevent us from going much further along this 
road, many of us are optimistic enough to hope. 
Action is a national characteristic of the American 
people, and onC'e the real cause of our troubles is 
discovered and the best remedy generally agreed 
upon, the end of economic oppression will be near. 
Our government is but the result of a sentiment, 
and that s'entiment is the child of our ideals of po- 
litical liberty and equality. At the time of its in- 
ception, our forefathers were ignorant of such a 
thing as industrial slavery. EVery man owned the 
simple implements with which he worked, hence 
was able to direct his labor and own the product of 
it. Undeveloped natural resources lay all around 
and were tO' be had for the taking. There were no 
idle rich and no aristocracy of wealth to live off 
from the fruits of labor. The only oppression they 



! ; THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 101 

knew was. either political or relig-ious. Thes'e they 
wisely provided for in* our fundamental laws. 
Shall not we prove ourselves worthy sons and by 
the necessary changes in those laws, 'add economic 
liberty also ? 

It was because of their total ignorance of the 
economic conditions which now prevail that they 
preferred to limit the powers of government to 
keeping order and of protecting life and property. 
Our government has always been extremely limit- 
ed in its functions. Outside of the mail service and 
a limited amount of river and harbor work, and 
one or two navy yards and gunshops, our govern- 
ment, until recently at least, has never done any- 
thing of importance along material lines. All of 
our great indlistries are private enterprises. The 
most intelligent men along all lines have been in 
the employ of private concerns. Our leading 
scientists, engineers, financiers, etc., have sel'dom 
been employed by the government, antil very re- 
cent times. While other governments have forged 
ahead and directly or indirectly developed great in- 
dustries for their people, the United States has 
been contented with its mail service. Slowly, but 



102 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

surely, we are realizing our error, and our last 
Congress has finally been forced to pass appropria- 
tions for the Panama Canal. The aid given to 
private railway corporations by the government 
would, if properly managed, often have built the 
line and the people could have reaped the benefits, 
which went into private pockets. Between the 
incompetency of politicians to manage business 
affairs, and the fear of lobbyists, the more con- 
servative statesmen have opposed public enter- 
prises. 

The strength of lobbies is really a menace to our 
form of government. Their methods are beyond 
control and their resources are generally unlimited. 
They are rapidly becoming a pretorian guard and 
every legislator is made to feel the power of the 
"third house." The peculiar adaptability of our 
form of government to the purposes of the capita- 
lists has long been realized by them. Laws favorable 
to capital and really against labor are plentifully 
found in both national and state statutes. Some 
states have gone to the limits of their constitu- 
tional authority in the matter of organizing or as- 
sisting in the organization of capital. By owning 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. lOSi 

or controlling the press of the coimtry, a systemat- 
ic effort is kept up in behalf of capital and senti- 
ment is formed and fostered to further the politi- 
cal machines and parties known to favor their 
schemes. What this method, combined with liberal 
campaig-n funds, to corrupt the polls, fails to ac- 
complish, is turned over to the lobbyist to finish. 
Between the selfish greed of our average politician 
and the condition above cited, the laboring men, al- 
though in the majority have but little to hope for 
unless united and organized. A king would ex- 
ert himself to protect and aid his laborers, as a 
m.atter of self-interest. The temporary office-hold- 
er has no such incentive, and moreover, he is of- 
ten poor in purse, as well as in moral courage. 
Deceit is here always at a premium:, and the 
m.ember who can the most completely hoodwink 
his constituents and at the same time fill his own 
pocket, is accounted the m'ost successful. Is it any 
wonder then, that many of our leading men eschew 
politics ? This, again, is against the interest of the 
laborer, and in favor of the designing capitaHsts. 
Capital has long since recognized its opportunity 
and improved it, as is evidenced by the great ag- 



l04 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

gregatioii of wealth in a few private han'ds. Capi- 
talists and their hirelings in politics say that our 
present laws and forms are good enough as they 
are. From their point of view, there is little rea- 
son' to doubt the assertion. But how about the toil- 
ing millions? At the present time, with the aid of 
improved machinery and organized industry, the 
average production per capita is many times what 
it was one hundred years ago. What part of this 
has accrued to labor? How much have the hours of 
labor been shortened? Except where unions 
have forced the shorter day, the shop whistles still 
call for a ten hour stint of hard labor. Has labor 
received its just share of the benefits? I think not. 
The fact that this great injustice has been allowed 
to develop and is allowed to continue is due to the 
general ignorance of the nature of it. Bconomic 
liberty is a nezv term to most people, hut economic 
slavery is not a nezi..' condition to many of them. 
Outside of the lately developed weakness, due to 
wealth, our g-overnment and laws have given US' a 
fair degree of political and religious liberty. The 
time has now arrived in the history of the world 
when liberty must take on her full trinity of mean- 



] : THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. .105 

ing, and mankinid be emancipated in truth. Of 
what use is pohtical and religious freedom to the 
pauper? The negroes of the former slave states 
are to-day suffering in an industrial bondage 
which, in many ways, is more galling tOi them 
than their former condition. Responsibility has 
com^e to them' in the matter of self-support and 
caring for a family without having the resources 
to meet that obligation. The result might easily 
be predicted. The masses of them are hopelessly 
poor and ignoran't, and fewer and fewer of them 
are even skilled in mechanics. Their ability to do 
som'ething useful is declining and industrial slave- 
ry is the inevitable result. The remark is fre- 
quently heard from' the form'er slave owners that it 
is cheaper to hire a slave than it was to own him. 
This form of slavery is doubly oppressive, because 
the victim has the additional load of responsibili- 
ty to carry, and be also has always the idea that he 
is a free man and in some ways the equal of any 
one. Moreo'ver, he voluntarily seeks his labor and 
is grateful for it. Yet he will in all probability be 
angry with you, if you suggest that he is a slave. 
The tendency to follow in the foot-prints oi 



106 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. ! 

t 

Others is extremely strong and we worship at the 
shrine of antiquity, simply because our fathers did' 
so before us. We adopt laws and customs without 
reaso'n and cling to them' with great tenacity. 
Ideals change slowly, if at all. Our mistakes in 
this line have to be glaring and oft-repeated before 
we make any radical change. The gradual change 
in ideals in this country, and also in Europe, during 
the last half century, is in some measure responsible 
for the acceleration in wealth-getting. The pro- 
gress made during that time has been almost ex- 
clusively along the line of physical power, our de- 
velopment and application. The period has scarcely 
produced a great statesman, poet, historian or au- 
thor and but few scientists wiho compare with Dar- 
win, Newton, Kepler, Humbolt and Franklin. 
But no period in the world's history can compare 
with the last half century in its production of in- 
ventors, manufacturers, engineers and financiers. 
All this is significant and it ought to teach us that 
we are in a changed atmosphere and need new laws 
and customs to meet the new conditions. Is it not 
time to stop following the wasteful, tortuous calf 



TPIE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 107 

paths of the past and cut a broad, straight road 
for hiimamity to travel over ? 

Nor is it necessary, in order that the change be 
brought about, that there be war and bloodshed. 
Wars are the results of changes, not the cause. 
A change in the ideals and sentiments of the people 
will accomplish great results, whether wars occur 
or not. Our forefathers fought for seven long 
years to establish political independence from Eng- 
land, yet the govemments of Canada and Aus- 
tralia are as liberal to-day as our own, and our 
Canadian friends prefer to keep their own institu- 
tions and pay a heavy tariff duty on their commerce 
with us, rather than be annexed. 

The ultimate object of the great rebellio'n was to 
give political freedom to the negroes of the south- 
ern states, yet within twenty-five years all civilized 
countries abolished slavery of their own accord, in 
response to the popular sentiment against it. Wars 
usually create bitter prejudices which are but 
obstacles in the way of enlightened conviction. 
The great forces of the world are moral, not physi- 
cal. The intellectual side of life will ultimately 
predominate. Evolution is along this line. The 



108 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

gr-eat physical giants belong to the past, and the 
modern successor uses brains instead of brute 
force. Intelligence rules the world to-day more 
than ever before, and the days of armies and navies 
are numbered. With economic liberty will come 
the grand ideal of the brotherhood of man. Hu- 
man selfishness will no longer command a premium 
and the way will be clear for a grander and no- 
bler intellectual life. 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. ]!!9 



CHAPTER III. 'i 

rut ECONOMIC FEATURES OE COEEECTIVE 
OWNERSHIP. 

One of the most significant facts revealed by our 
census returns is the enormous increase in produc- 
tivity of labor under modern conditions. Compli- 
cated and powerful machinery and highly organized 
and system.atized industry are the prime factors of 
this increase. Even with out reputed extravagance 
in living and a constant accession of pauper emigra- 
tion, we have increased our total wealth per capita 
four hundred per cent in fifty years, and the grand 
total from seven to ninety billions of dollars. No 
country, or similar period in history, can record 
such a result. From 1870 to 1900, the increase 
was sixty billions, nearly one-half of which was 
due to the last decade. The past ten years have al- 
so witnessed the gTeatest organization of industry 
and application of machinery. Perhaps no better 
single illustration of the power of organized capi- 
tal in production can be given than that shown by 



116 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

the census returns regarding the per capita value 
of farm products and those of railway earnings. 
There are about 5,740,000 farms in the United 
States and the gi'oss product in 1899, was $3,705,- 
000,000. Now, each farm employs, on an everage, 
two laborers. This would give for each one a pro- 
duct of $323 a year. The railroads earned last year, 
$1,700,000,000, and employed about 800,000 men. 
This is an average of $2,125 per man, a result 
nearly seven times as great as that produced by the 
farm laborer. This, too, notwithstandiing the in- 
terest on the capital employed in each case would 
acco'unt for but a part of the discrepancy. A gen- 
eral average of the product of all manufacturing 
per capita, is about $1,000 per annum, and the capi- 
tal so employed is about one-half that of the farm- 
er. These results show the superior productive 
power of thoroughly organized capital and labor. 
Is it not time we organiired agriculture as well as 
railroads ? 

Yet another fact is suggested by the above fig- 
ures and our own observation, and that is, that the 
railroad employee lives no better and has no more 
of life's comforts than the farmer. In fact, his 



I THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. Ill 

Vv^ages are less than the farmer's, considfering- hoitse 
rent, fuel, etc. Of what value is capital to^ the 
wage earner whoi employs it only for some one 
els€? Is there no relation' between, the statistics 
above quoted'? I believe it is^ patent to- everyone 
that so far as economy irt production and distribu- 
tion goes', corporations and trusts are a good 
thing. If not, capitalists would not be so persist- 
ent in organizing them. Organization of industry 
is not a theory, it is a fact and the results confront 
us in forms too' plain tO' be miistaken. That it is 
in the interest of economy is evident; that it is 
dangerous to- the welfare of the masses is clearly 
due to something els'e than its economic character. 

It is the duty of the present to analyze great 
que's'tions, to recognize and retain the good and re- 
ject the ba'd. Posterity rightly demands this 
much of us in r'eturn for what we have received 
from' the past. If one machine is better than an- 
other, we should retaf^i the better one. If there 
are defects in the best we can get, let us seek to 
remedy the defects and not condemn the entire 
machine. The machine is not to blame. 

The ignorance of labor often incites it to destroy 



112 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. , ' 

or circumscribe labor-savintg machinery, as was 
evinced by the opposition to self-binding reapers 
and later to the linotype printing machines. La- 
borers, for the most part, at least, have realized 
their error. A large part of the laboring people of 
to-day are loudly condemning trusts and some 
even) decry capital and long for frontier primitive- 
ness and poverty. This also shows a lack of con- 
scientious study of the social and economic prob- 
lems of the day. Reason sliould teach us tO' ap- 
propriate the good features O'f trusts and destroy 
the bad ones. If organization of industry and 
concentration of wealth for specific ends are found 
more efficient than individual enterprises under 
competition, then let us adopt the former method 
of production and develop it to its limits, by con- 
centrating all the wealth and systematizing all in- 
dustries. On the other hand, if this system has the 
defects complained of, then eHminates those defects 
by making the property thus centralized the com- 
mon heritage of all the people, not to own as in- 
dividuals as so much per capita, but to have an 
equal interest in its us'e and product. Otir accu- 
mulated ivcalth should he a heritage to all our pos- 



[ THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. J 13 

tcrity forever. Its use ought to belong equally to 
all of us. 

It is argued by capitalists' that poverty is large- 
ly the result of extravagant living. It is true that 
our standard of living is higher than it generally 
is in frontier settlements and in some foreign coun- 
tries. Society, especially educated, progressive so- 
ciety, demands a reasonable amoiunt of comfort 
and a few diversions. That much money is annu- 
ally sc[ua.ndered for necessary things, no one 
doubts, but that this amount, great as it may be, is 
any large per cent, of the total waste due to our 
econimic system, I deny, and hope to prove. 

Having been reared under our present system, 
we do not realize our follies, nor appreciate our 
losses due to them-. Before going into' the details 
of these several means of wasting our substance, 
it may be well tO' briefly describe the conditions 
which would exist under the collective ownership 
of property and direction of industry. 

First. The collective ownership and national 
control of all property save the necessary personal 
belongings of each individual or family group. 

Second. The exclusive conduct by the nation 



.114 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. . : 

of all industry bearing on the production! and dis- 
tribution of wealth. 

Third. The requisition of a specified amount of 
labor by each adult, und'er reasonable conditions. 

Fourth. The equal maintainance of each per- 
son of provision for same so far as physical require- 
ments are concerned. 

Now, let us compare our present system of in- 
dividual initiative and competition with the condi- 
tions resulting from the above system. 

Under the present system many people are en- 
gaged in the same line of business in close prox- 
imity to each other. A large number of estab- 
lishments are required, where one would suffice. 
Many men are employed where a few could "do the 
work better. Goods are purchased of middlemen 
and jobbers, and consequently at a higher price. 

L^et me illustrate in a sraiall way. 

In this town, of less than ten thousand people, 
there are about twenty-five grocery stores. This 
means rent for twenty-five buildings; also' twenty- 
five managers and complements of clerks, book- 
keepers, collectors, delivery wagons, etc., all of 
which are drawn away from productive labor. 



Th:E] warfare op wealth. li^ 

Probably no kss- than one hundred persons, all 
told, are now engaged in doing for the citizens of 
the community, what could be better dome by twen- 
ty-five. Now let us do- a little calculating. 

Seventy-five men at the present average wages 
in this line, would earn! $37,500 per year. The 
rent of twenty-four stores at $300, would be 
$7,200. The maintainance of twenty delivery 
wagons would' be $2,000. We have a total saving 
to the public of $46,700. 

Nor is this all. The goods could be bought at 
first cost in car lots, thereby saving in freights and 
middlem-cn's profits at least 25 per cent. This 
would represent a total saving of not less than $50 
per year per family, by combining the gToccry busi- 
nes's alone. But under our present laws of private 
capitalism^, the saving would go, not to the people, 
but, to the owners of the new combination. What 
is true of the grocery trade, is also true of the dry 
goods, hardware, clothing and drug trade as well. 

To-day, about a dozen milkmen) have driven past 
our door, only one of whom supplies our table with 
milk. The whole twelve traverse daily nearly the 
entire town, leaving a bottle here and there. If 



116 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

the business were combined and systemiatized, four 
men and wagons coiild render the service better 
and the other eight could be returned to productive 
labor. What is true here is also true elsewhere. 
Were all our distribution of products rationally 
and properly systematized, surely less than one- 
fifth of the people now employed could do the work 
better. One-eighth of all our workers, it is esti- 
mated, are now engaged in distributing commo- 
dities. We are prone to grumble at our general 
taxes of a few dollars and ignore the tax of hun- 
dreds of dollars on onr ignorance of systematic 
business methods. 

There are no statistics at hand, showing the 
cost of articles in general use to the producer and 
consumer, but I am inclined to believe, from per- 
sonal investigaion, that an average O'f all merchan- 
dise will show a difference of nearly fifty per cent 
of the cost to the coiTsumer. This should largely 
be saved, together with the fruits of the labor of 
the army of mien and millions of capital set free by 
combining distribution. 

Nor is this by any means all that might be saved. 
Production is handled as wastefully in many res- 



THE WARFARE QP WEALTH. 117 

pects as distribution. Many factories are situated 
far from both raw material and the market, necessi- 
tating a great loss in transportation. Hundreds of 
small factories make the samie kind of goods, each 
keeping up its full complement of plants, superin- 
tendents, foremen, book-ke'epers and drummers. 
Each one advertises its wares and buys and sell's' in 
small quantities. This is largely waste energy and 
capital. Our trusts and great corporations have 
proved conclusively the econamy of large units in 
production. Even with a large per cent of 
stock composed of water, they are able to 
pay handsome dividends, where before the 
separate concerns were barely able to exist. 
This has been done, too, where the price 
of the product to the consumer has not been 
advanced beyond that formerly charged. 

Another large item of loss, in pro'duction, is the 
failure of ill-advised and mis-directed enterprises. 
Thousands of firms annually go to the wall for 
lack of capital, experience or opportunity. 

Ninety-two! per cent of the twelve thousand 
failures in the U. S. and Canada in 1901, were of 
concerns having under five thousand dollars capi- 



118 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

tal. No small manufacturer can have a compre- 
hensive knowledge of the supply and demand of 
what he produces. There miay be a great demand 
to-day and a surplus next month. He does not 
know what his competitors are doing and so goes 
on blindly producing more than he may be able to 
sell, at a profit. The result is often a loss and 
sometimes a failure. 

This the successful mainufacturer takes into ac- 
count, in operating his' plant, with the result that 
an excessive profit is normally charged for his 
product. Hence, the surplus or sinking funds are 
provided and these are always eventually taken 
from the consumer. 

Comibination of effort engaged in any lins 
would give a broader view of the conditions of op- 
eration and also of the supply and demand. The 
best methods could be adopted, the best locations 
utilized and operatives could count on steady em- 
ployment. 

Another item, of enormous loss is from the peri- 
odical hard times and shut-downs in production. 
These much-feared, yet frequent periods, cause un- 
told loss in idle labor and capital, besides so disar- 



i THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. . 119 

ranging production andl distribution that miany 
months are often consumed in righting condi- 
tions, even after they have otherwise become' nor- 
mal. These disasters cause capital' to become timid 
and labor despondent. Progress is rudely checked 
and general confidence in our institutions is lessen- 
ed. This is all purely an economic disease and can 
b'c cured only by systematizing industry. Produc- 
tion should be limited only to a rational demand 
for it, and the people should be able to consume all 
that they deem necessary. These conditions can be 
brought about only by combining capital, concen- 
trating control of industry and finally of provid- 
ing each person with the means of obtaining his or 
her just share of the product. 

L;abor strikes also come under this head, and 
furnis'h no small item of the loss in our recent de- 
velopment. 

Another great cause of waste in our industria.1 
organization is idle capital and labor and also capi- 
tal and labor employed at ai disadvantage. Capital 
lying idle in stocks oif goods, not really salable, 
or spent in lavish advertising ; also in banks ; in un- 
used lands and other ways. Labor performing 



120 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. • 

horse-power work, when it should be employed in- 
telligently in directing machinery. Time spent in 
traveling- for business only and in seeking employ- 
ment or location for business ; labor spent in caring 
for millions of households, where co-operation 
wou'l'd relieve four-fifths of it and' at the s'ame time 
save cost. I refer to washing, cooking, sewing, 
etc. So far as men's clothing is concerned, we now 
apply rational methods and find that we can buy a 
whole suit of clothes for what a lady pays for a 
jacket, made by her dress-maker. Until recently, 
but few women were employed in any way, save 
domestic work. We are already beginning to real- 
ize this error and to appreciate their value in the 
counting room, the school and the factory. Ma- 
ternal duties excepted, there is no reason why wo- 
men should not take their places alongside of men; 
in nearly every walk of life. They have the same 
intelligence and if properly clothed and developed, 
have nearly ecjual physical strength, while in some 
ways, their finer sensibihties render them superior 
to men in many kinds of skilled labor. It is argued 
that they could not perform the heavy work often 
required of men. If the heavy, coarse labor re- 



THE WARFARE GP WEALTH. 121 

quired of so-me of our industrial slaves, had to be 
done by tlie capitalists, a way would soon be found 
to do it better by machinery. Wherever the own- 
ers of capital do not engag'e personally in labor 
progress is extremely slow. The hoe and the bull- 
tongue plow are good enough tools for the slave 
and are still in use in many countries, but the far- 
mer who does his own work, uses sulky plows, 
drills, cultivators, and self-binding reapers. 

We drive a patient, docile horse over rough, 
hilly and muddy roads without compunction oif 
conscience, but when we mount a bicycle and ride 
over the sam;e roads, we soon improve them' by 
grading and macadamizing. 

No mam oug'ht to be comipelled to "do' any task 
that is. beyond the strength and endurance of a 
fairly weM-developed woman, and if onr present in- 
telligence and capital were properly applied, there 
would be no- necessity for it. 

Women have been emancipated from' the spin- 
ning wheel and the loom' by the modern factory 
machines, and spinning and knitting are almost 
forgotten arts in the household. Even soap-making 
on the farm is fast disappearing, and the modern 



122 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

creamery is relieving the house-wife of another 
burden incident to country Hfe. Now, I think no 
intelligent person will disagree with me when I 
say that this is wise and rational progress and that 
we are better served', in all the lines mentioned, 
than we could be, undier the old regime. Since we 
have gone thus far in the emancipation of women 
from individual household toil, can we not with 
equal benefit go further ? Why not, at least so far 
as towns and cities are coiicerned, eliminate cook- 
ing in the home? Already some progress has been 
made in this direction. Many modern apartment 
houses 'have no facilities for cooking and eating, 
save in a general kitchen and dining room. Thou- 
sands of people live in furnished rooms and get 
meals at cafes. All kinds of baking are done in es- 
pecially preparedl places and brought to one's 
doors ; fruit and vegetables are canned and preserv- 
ed in the factory instead o>i in the home, and even 
soups are ready made, of many kinds. With a prop- 
erly arranged kitchen, and the aid of these aux- 
iliaries, a half-dozen skilled cooks can prepare more 
and better food than a hundred housewives, work- 
ing independently. The cost would be much less, 



. 1 . THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 123 

and the general quality better. With the kitchen 
and dining room eliminated and the remainder of 
our homes sensibly arranged and simply furnished, 
housekeeping would not need to occupy but a small 
portion of the time of the wife or daughter. This 
simple arrangement would release a vast army of 
laborers to more useful productive efforts and the 
servant problem' wo'uld be a closed incident. Nor 
need we sacrifice privacy, as each family group 
could retain a private dining room' in connection 
with the genera'l kitchen and could place its order 
for such food as it chose. The inconvenience of a 
few minutes walk would be more than offset by the 
relief of "kitchen cares and worries." 

Another source of waste in our economic organi- 
zation is in the use of money and book-keeping. 
If industry were all systematized, as suggested, no 
one would have anything ito sell to his neighbor, 
hence, money would have nO' office tO' perform. 
Credits would be directly between the individual 
and the nation, through its government, and all 
transactions being on a cash basis, book-keeping and 
accounting would become largely a forgotten sys- 
tem. Employees in banks, loan and trust Go's, clear- 



124 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

ing houses and mints, tax gatherers, rev- 
enue agents, treasurers of ah kinds, cohectors, pay 
masters and auditors, with their army of book- 
keepers and assistants, would be turned over to the 
producing class. These are now consumers only, 
and while they serve a necessary purpose in our 
present system, they would be entirely useless in a 
rational arrangement of production and distribu- 
tion. 

Another considerable clas's to be eliminated is 
the insurance men. 'Thousands of our most intelli- 
gent citizens are now engagied in life, fire accident 
and marine insurance work. A highly 'desirable 
work under our present economic organization, but 
useless if collective ownership be established.. The 
anxiety men have for the welfare of their loved 
ones, coupled with the fact that life insurance mon- 
ey is exempt from execution, caus'es many to in- 
vest a considerable amount in this form of legacies. 
Among tile greatest aggregations of capital in our 
land, are the insurance companies, and their wealth 
is rapidly increasing. 

Another considerable class that wonl'd be elimin- 
ated by the new order, is the lawyers and court of- 



I / THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 125 

ficials'. Without private property to quarrel over, 
there would be practically no litigation. Oncj 
judge of high character and ability would then 
serve better than scores of attorneys, juries and 
court officials do now. Nine-tenths of our laws 
are property laws, and our courts are mainly en- 
gaged in civil work or in criminal work growing 
out of the property rights and poverty. Private 
ownership of capital abolished, the incentive to 
crime would be largely gone and jails, reformator- 
ies and penitentiaries would rapidly become tenant- 
less. Sheriffs', constables and policemen would be 
practically unnecessary. Charity would be a thing 
of the past, with all its attachees. Insanity, even, 
would rapidly disappear. A large proportion of 
the insanity of the present time is caused by over- 
work, or worry over troubles due to our environ>- 
ment. The hig-her the civilization, the greater is 
the per cent of insanity. 

Then, again, with society rationally organized, 
there need be nO' use for the army or navy, or of the 
establishments now engaged in supplying ships, 
guns, munitions and equipments. This entire 
force wouMi also be added to the nation's workers 



126 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

in the fields of production and distribution. True, 
our army, even including the national guard, is 
comparatively small to that of other countries. 
Yet the total expense for military and naval pur- 
poses, including pensions, reaches over two hun- 
dred and fifty millions annually. This is a tax of 
fifteen dollars per family in the entire United 
States in time of peace. 

Still another source of great loss to the produ- 
cers is the interest on debts, public and private, 
and on capital, which would be wiped out by the 
proposed order of society. The bonded indebted- 
ness of our government, states, cities and counties, 
is now over two billioms of dollars, while the debts 
of corporations, railroads, manufacturing concerns 
and individuals is vastly greater. Then, too, the 
capital invested in all industrial enterprise and in 
real estate etc., which demands interest, rents and 
dividends, amounts to over $75,000,000,000. On 
all of this, interest must be paid by the producing 
class, in addition to their own living. Much of 
this property is not invested in productive enter- 
prises, hence, does not assist the producer. It is 
true that our modern use of machinery and organi- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 127 

zation of industry enables us to be much more pro- 
ductive than were our forefathers', yet, with the 
profits of our principal industries, nearly 50 per 
cent of the gross product, going into the pockets 
of the owners of capital, how long will our wage 
earners be able to carry these enormous loads ? 
N'or are these loads getting lighter. On the con- 
trary, they are constantly increasing. Many of 
our modern trusts and combinations are forcing 
the people to pay a dividend on stocks, equal to 
the actual value of the' plants and in addition to 
this, interest on a bonded indebtedness as much 
greater. 

Under our present system, every dollar of accu- 
mrdated capital stands as a menace to every day's 
labor yet to he performed. Were the fruits of our 
production and distribution justly divided, we 
might hope to carry the load and still progress'. 
But under the present unequal and unjust division, 
the laborer receives less and less, as the load grows 
heavier. 

It is true thiat we have the most efficient plant 
for production that the worl'd has yet seen, but yet 
there is such a large proportion of our wealth that 



12S ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

15 non-productive, still requires a dividend to be 
paid on it. I refer first to the value of land, due to 
its location. Land in New York City has recently 
sold at the rate of $23,298,000 per acre, and is im- 
mensely valuable in all urban locations. Yet this 
is not a factor in production. If society were 
properly organized, there would be no land rents of 
any amount. Population would flow away from 
the great centers and the telephone and cheap rapid 
transit would accomplish the rest. Under our 
present system if a man has anything to sell, he 
must seek a market. The buyers must also seek a 
market. The poor man having his labor only to sell, 
seeks the city as the place of greatest demand, and 
the manufacturer, wishing to buy labor, €stablishes 
his factory there because he has the greatest varie- 
ty and supply to draw from. The merchant, hav- 
ing wares to sell, naturally seeks the locality oi 
greatest demand and all these forces combined to 
build the city at the expense of the country and the 
smaller towns. 

Under collective ownership, none of these forces 
would be operative, hence the value of land, due to 
location, would be nominal. Nearly one-half of 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 129 

our people now live in cities and towns, while in 
1800, 96 per cent lived in the country. Over half 
of our wealth is in urban real estate and a majori- 
ty of that consists of land values. 

Another large portion of our total wealth, which 
is not a factor in production, is in our homes, fur- 
niture, public buildings, schools and churches, 
parks, etc. Yet these often require a large interest 
to be pard, if the money for their construction was 
borrowed, and if not, then taxes and the loss oi the 
capital invested, at least, are required. While emi- 
nently necessary, they do not 'directly aid the pro- 
dtucer to earn the cost and expense of them. 

H'ow often do we hear people say "we cannot af- 
ford so expensive a homie." It is because the home 
is not a factor in production, and they feel that 
more of their capital miust be used in assisting them 
to bear their burdens. 

It is often argued that although a large part of 
the fruits of labor are appropriated by the few, that 
these few in turn spend it in some way which 
eventually reaches the common people again. Also 
that a rich man can wear but one suit of clothes at 
a time, or eat but three meals a day, and- hence 



130 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

there is no reason to fear the rich. This has ever 
been the argaiment of the oppressor and has rung 
out over decHning civihzation; in all past time. So 
long as selfishness is deemed a virtue and great 
wealth is the open sesame to the so-called highest 
circles of society, just so long will wealth oppress 
labor. It makes but little difference to the toiling 
producer, whether the capitalist gives a small por- 
tion of the amount he receives of the products to 
some other servant, or whether he throws it away. 
If the producer is robbed of any part of his reward, 
he lacks so much of being a free man. In fact the 
capitalist usually invests his surplus of profits in 
such a manner that it constantly becomes harder 
and harder for the producer and easier for the capi- 
talist to get a large share of the succeeding pro- 
duct. It is a serious question, as to how long la- 
bor can stand the accumulation of capital ini private 
hands, under our present system. Certain it is that 
more and more small capitalists are being forced 
intO' the position of wage earners and have no in- 
terest in production, due to capital. Since this ten- 
dency to wage earning is clearly proven by exper- 
ience, the question naturally arises, would it not be 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 131 

better for labor, under present conditions, if the 
surplus weakh were each year thrown into the sea, 
instead of pilin'g up a burden for ourselves and 
children tO' bear. Hozvever intelligent or efficient 
labor may he, production is ahvays limited by na- 
tural resources. The more capital there is to claim 
a share of it, the less will there he left for labor. 
If labor owned the capital and could command its 
use to assist it in production, and if all' capital de- 
manding a return on itsi investment were of use in 
production, then capital would not be a burden. 
But these conditions are not prevalent in O'ur civili- 
zation, to any great degree, and are fast becoming 
mxore rare. 

S'o far as the glories of inteilectuai life and ma- 
terial equipment are concerned, no civilization 
ever bequeathed to its posterity such a rich legacy 
as we shall. Our ideal's' of political liberty and 
justice and the moral heart of our people are the 
grandest the world has even known. Our sympa- 
thies are world-wide and our achievements in ma- 
terial things stand unparalled in the history of na- 
tions. Yet no structure is stronger than its weak- 
est part, and a misconception of right and just 



132 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

economic principles may easily destroy all. With 
all our opportunity, due to present advancement, 
and our knowledge oi the errors of the past, we 
should leave to our posterity the grandest heritage 
ever bequeathed. But if my observation and judg- 
ment serves mie right, unless we change our eco- 
nomic principles radically and' soon, the majority 
of US' will leave to our children only a magnificent- 
ly appointed and thoroughly equipped penitentiary. 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 133 



■ " CHAPTER IV. '. : 

THs; ]j;thics of economics and modi;rn 

PROGRI^SS. 

"So to the calmly gathered thought, the innerino:t 

of life is taught. 
The mystery dimly understood, that love of God 

is love O'f Good, 
That tO' be saved means only this, salvation from 

our selfishness." > 

In this chapter I propose to discuss in a brief 
way the principle features' of law and religion as 
related to economics. 

I have alrea'dy noted the tendency of new civili- 
zations to accept the laws, religions and customs 
of their predecessors. Ours is no exception to the 
general rule, and we are to-day Hving to a large 
extent, in an atmosphere of antiquity sO' far as 
these things are concerned. 

Progress along material lines' may be rapid but 
purely intellectual progress is a slow development. 



134 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. . : 

Intellectual errors are not as obvious as are the 
other kinds, and, as we get our ideals largely from 
our parents there is a double tendency to continue 
in the same beliefs. 

This is often shown by the tenacity with which 
people hold to their religious creeds or politics, 
even though surrounded' by 'dissenting opinions. 
The child reared a Catholic remains a Catholic 
although among protestants or heathen, and the 
same is true of other sects. No nation has ever 
changed either its fundemental laws or religion ex- 
cept by force or through centuries of gradual 
growth. 

Every civilization has had a distinct religion of 
its own, differing largely in its forms and creeds, 
but having at its foundation the hope of a future 
existence, better than this, and the belief in obtain- 
ing it, through the intervention of some super- 
natural being, usually worshipped for that purpose, 
and whose earthly representative was some form of 
man-ordained priesthood. Even savage tribes have 
the essence of these same beliefs and forms. Since 
the essential principles involved in religion are 
founded' on hope and speculation, the change's 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 135 

which occurred wiere mainly in its outward forms. 
These forms and ceremonies were the result, in 
most cases of priestly influence, and were designed 
to exalt and magnify the office of the priest and 
cater to his personal welfare and pleasure. It was 
manifestly to the interest of this powerful class of 
leaders to hold thought along these lines station- 
ary. Any progress would argue that their ideas 
were not true and of divine origin. This would 
naturally cause doiibt in the minds of their follow- 
ers and weaken the hold they had on them'. Then, 
too, the priesthood, in all time's, have been the 
best educated of all the people. Much of the time, 
they were the only ones who: could read or write, 
and until the present time, it has been the policy 
of the church to control higher education, in order 
to obtain the prestige of advanced thought in its 
behalf. In fact, the sectarian schools are still the 
most numerous' of our colleges, and in somie of 
the more backward and^ illiterate states, they op- 
pose state aid tO' higher education. All this is the 
result of a conscious weakness' on their part of 
the real truth of what they preach. If they coiul'd 
answer the why of the child with as much reason 



ic6 ECONOMIC Liberty vs. 

as science does, they would not need fear non- 
sectarian schools or worry for the welfare of their 
organization. However, I would not deny or de- 
preciate the good which has been done by religion 
in all time. Its one virtue it seems tO' me 
lies in the fact that all religious creeds are fo'Unded, 
to some extent, on moral law, and the teaching of 
the church has usually encouraged self-restraint and 
meekness in its members, I allude tO' it here, more 
for the purpose of showing the tendency to con- 
servatism and lack of progress in religious thought. 
We cannot overestimate the influence of religion 
on the character of the people. The ideals of any 
civilization shape the lives and energies of the 
people, and their religion is often the mother of 
their ideals. Thus the fixedness of religious 
thought has for ages been the dominant cause of a 
lack of progress. Changes in the religion of a 
people liave usually been accompanied by a revolu- 
tion or the decay of their intellectual and industrial 
life. So long as a civilization holds to one religion 
and fixed ideals, there will be neither progress' nor 
decline. Witness the truth of this in China, India, 
and in Europe during the dark ages. Transition 



! THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 137 

periods in religious thought and ideals are always 
accompanied by either progress or retrogression, 
cs the change is for a grander and truer ideal or a 
more ignoble one. When' the Greek mind was de- 
veloping its' idea'l of beauty and freedom, Greece 
prospered and progressed; when egotism and sel- 
fishness superseded the O'ld ideals and oppressed the 
people, decline followed. While Rome was ex- 
panding her ideal of national military power and 
glory, she prospered, and when that ideal was sacri- 
ficed to private wealth and power, Rome fell. Dur- 
ing the dark ages', the one fixed ideal of religious 
zeal occupied the public mind, and there was no 
progress ; but with the Reformation came the 
change toward religious and poHtical liberty. 

This change continued and the ideals have ex- 
panded and grown apace with the most marvelous 
intellectual and material progress' the world has 
ever seen. Religious thought is still changing and 
becoming more liberal, and unless economic con- 
ditions force the ideals of liberty and justice from 
their rig-'htful pHace, progress will continue. But 
if human selfis'hness is' allowed to supersede those 



138 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

grand ideals, we can look forward to nothing but 
decldne and misery. 

Tihe struggle for the ideal is on. It will be a 
battle royal. Marshalled on one side are the batal- 
lions of selfish power, ease, and luxury due to 
wealth ; on the other, the hosts of honest toil, liber- 
ty- and justice. In all the battles of the past, sel- 
fishness has wom, and the defeated hosts of labor 
have been driven from their birthright. Labor 
and liberty have retreated westward, ever followed 
by the demon of selfishness. Shall they, like the 
savage, read their doom in the setting sun? Shall 
we acknowledge that we still have not sufficient 
intelligence to live together in harmony and peace? 
God forbid. We cannot retreat further. There 
is no vacant country for the defeate'd army of toil 
to develop and our very existence depends on the 
issue of the pending conflict. There is but one 
condition necessary for complete victory, and that 
is, intelligent united effort. Only by separating 
our hosts and pitting us against ourselves can the 
enemy win. Will we do it? 

Having briefly traced the history of our ideals 
and their relation to progress, let us study more 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. .139 

closely the present conditions, and see, if possible, 
what are the tendencies of present thought and 
action. 

The universe is governed by two^ sets of laws. 
They are commonly misnamed, natural law, and 
higher law. Either one or the other of these laws 
must uphold and characterize our ideal. Natural 
law, briefly stated, is' individuality. Each for itself 
or self-preservation, and the survival of the strong- 
est. This is clearly the method of existence in all 
vegetable and animal life. Science cleanly proves 
it, and every plant and animal is a living testimony 
to its infallibility. It is true that animals some- 
times congregate for mutual protection or ofifense, 
but that O'bject once gained, each cares for itself 
as best it cans and the strongest survives. There 
is no concerted action for mutual advantage, and 
physical existence, coupled with reproductive func- 
tions' are the sole ends of their beings. The laws 
governing their lives are rational and natural laws, 
because there is always a tendency to a scarcity of 
the means of subsistence. In all material things, 
where any part is used up, there is less left for 
future use. Hence with the life of animals, which 



140 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

have but scant means, if any, of providing for the 
future, there is always developed an instinct of 
self-preservation which ultimately finds its counter- 
part in human selfishness. That this animal in^ 
stinct is fostered and encouraged by competition 
and individualism, I shall discuss later on. That 
it is due to our aniniial view of life, I shall also 
hope to prove. 

The so-called higher laws apply to mankind only 
and to him in proportion as he is enlightened. The 
savage sees but a glimmer of the hiofher life, the 
thought life, and his physical necessities cause him 
to be a victim to the lower, or as I shall call them, 
the animal laws. 

The higher law, briefly defined, is the law of the 
intellectual or thought life. Its fund>amental prin- 
ciples are love and unselfish sympathy for others. 
They are the reverse of the lower laws. The more 
one loves, the more love there is left. Tlie more 
one thinks, the more ability one has to think. Let 
vnt illustrate. A young wife gives her hand and 
heart to her husband. She is wholly unreserved 
ir: her affections, yet she love's' her father, mother, 
brothers and sisters, none the less for it. A child 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 141 

is born to them, and apparently the whole love-life 
of both is bestowed on the babe, but the old affec- 
tion for each other is only streng-thened and sweet- 
ened. With the birth of other children later on, 
the same phenomena is observed, and instead of 
detracting from the original love, it is increased. 
Like the laws of universal attraction, including 
electric and magnetic attraction, it increases as the 
product of the attracting units. There are some 
marvelous analog'ies between universal attraction, 
electric induction, and human affections, and the 
future may solve the mystery of the relations of 
thought and physical energy. Then again the 
physical body soon gets its full development and 
grows no more, while the mind, on the contrary, 
never ceases to grow and expand, so long as its 
implement, the brain, is kept in proper repair. The 
physical body soon becomes exhausted by use, 
while the mind increases in vigor, so long as the 
brain is supplied with energy. So much 'for the 
complex constitution of humanity. Now let us 
see how we can best apply our energies to ac- 
complish our greatest benefit. 

I hold that the physical body of man is simply 



142 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

the agency that provides and keeps in repair the 
brain, which is the iniplement of thought, and 
through which thought manifests itself. The 
special senses are only parts of that implement, 
adapted to detecting and transmitting external im- 
pressions to the brain, or by which the brain more 
effectively transmits thought to others. Under 
this conception only does life seem to me intelligible 
and evolution rational. Since then, the thought 
of man is the ultimate end to be developed, shall 
we not subordinate the physical side of our being 
to it? If so, we should apply the higher law to our 
•existence. The physical body and its necessities 
should be treated as such and like other implements 
be kept in the best repair and efficiency by the least 
possible expenditure of time and energy. Mankind 
ever has been and is now largely employed in car- 
ing for the implement, the body, and has over- 
looked the welfare of the operator, thought. 
Physical liberty is useful only so far as it promotes 
happiness and assists free development of the in- 
tellect. Any system which will properly support 
the pliysical powers, with the least use of the im- 



. THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 143 

plenient of thought, will gfive us the greatest in- 
tellectual freedom and development. 

Now let us examine our present economic sys- 
tem, by this standard, and see where it is weak, 
and how it might be strengthened. If a man ii 
required to use his brain for ten hours a 'day, in 
obtaining the requisites necessary for physical ex- 
istence, there will be but little time left for freedom 
and development of thought. Moreover, if his' toil 
is such as to largely absorb his physical energy, 
the brain, the implement of thought will be in poor 
condition for use during the meager leisure be has 
left. If, as usually occurs, the toiler has, in addi- 
tion to his labor, to worry about the comiort and 
happiness of a depeu'dent family, or even of his 
own future wants, his brain energy is further 
wasted. Whatever energy is used in physical exist- 
ence only is lost to the progressive thought, happi- 
ness, and development of the individual. It re- 
duces mankind to the plain of the animal. 

I have already shown how wasteful of time and 
energy our present €conom.ic system is, also that 
competition is industrial warfare, with no quarter 
and no prisoners. It is worse than this, because 



144 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

the lives and happiness of the innocent women 
and children, the aged arid the crippled, are also 
sacrificed to it. Neither is there any vision of 
patriotic glory to sweeten the cup of defeat, or 
marble shafts, garlanded with flowers, to grate- 
fully commemorate them, dead. The spirit of sel- 
fishness and of survival of the strongest, and the 
most cunning is given full play, and society is 
governed by the laws of the animal world. "Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," is a divine law 
given to humanity, yet how can we apply it, so 
long as we are governed by the opposite principle 
and when the liberal application of it would mean 
poverty and misery. How small, indeed, is the love 
displayed wherever competition is greatest, and 
where it is most needed. The resident of the city 
lives for years alongside his neighbor and knows 
not even his name. In the rural districts, where 
competition is less keen, and wealth more evenly 
distributed, life is more humane and natural. It is 
only in the home, however, that the full arid com- 
plete joys of life can be now realized. There is, 
or ought to be, no competition there, no selfish- 
ness. It makes little or no difference whether the 



I THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 145 

money is spent by father, mother or child, so long 
as it brings happiness to any member of the family. 
The joy of one is the joy of all, and each assists in 
bearing the other's sorrows and burdens. Love 
is' law and life is happiness. With what supreme 
pleasure does the tired and worried business man 
enter his home after a day's contentious business 
life. Here at last he finds real friends. Friends' 
not actuated by selfish motives, but who love him 
for his own sake and not for what his money will 
buy; friends who will cling to and support him 
in storm as well as sunshine, in sorrow as well as 
joy. The best that he has, if he be a wis'e parent, 
he lays upon the altar of his home, to it he brings 
his heart's best love and affection, and for it he 
sacrifices his life's best energies. If the home is 
so much to the well-to-do classes, what must it be 
to the toilworn wage-earner. He has no' business 
enterprise of his own to encourage his ambition, 
and stimulate his efforts. What his home fails to 
supply him of happiness is' a dreary waste. Sad, 
indeed, is it to think, that this one bright place in 
his existence, is so often marred by disagreeable 
environments, and all but ruined by ignorance and 



146 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. " 

vice. One has to sear his conscience to call the 
miserable quarters usually occupied by a city wage- 
worker, a home. He is denied flowers and trees, 
is surrounded often by noise and filth, and even 
God's sunlight and air are limited and vitiated by 
the smoke of factories. Nor is this all. In the 
more densely populated districts, and es'pecially 
among the poorer class, rents are so high and wages 
so low that the family circle is often broken by 
the necessity of taking in strangers. Politicians 
and great statesmen tell us that the home is the 
sheet-anchor of hope of society, and the bulwark of 
the nation. Let me ask, in all earnestness, what 
great good can be expected to result from a home 
where the father, and often the mother and children 
over ten years of age, spend ten hours of the day- 
light in hard labor, and at night bring their tired 
bodies to cheerless room's shared with strangers. 
Is it any wonder that the father and brother seek 
the gilded saloon and the daughter the concert hall ? 
What other pleasure do they know ? What incen- 
tive to a higher life? Please remember that I am 
not describing an extreme or rare case, but a con- 
dition which is all too common in our large cities 



The warfare of wealth. ui 

and towns. One million, two hundred arid twenty- 
five thousand; people in New York city live in' close- 
ly crowded tenements, and thousands of stables 
filled with horses occupy the same sections of the 
city. Furni'shed rooms to rent ought to tell a sad 
story tO' any lover of humanity and to any worship- 
er of the true home. Yet like many other evils', 
they are so common that we pass them by unheeded 
and accept the conditions without complaint. Nor 
is this the only bad feature, or even the worst 
of the condition. To the stranger who is within 
thy gates, the word hoime must indeed be a mock- 
ery. Outside of the little ones of the household, he 
is often denied even the small pleasure of a kind 
look or word. It is hard enough to have one's life 
filled with disagreeable toil and to have no noble 
ambition to strive for, but when, in addition to this, 
one is denied the joy of a home of his own arid 
the love and sympathy of kindred, life is indeed a 
desert waste. 

It is often said that home is the synonym of 
heaven. If so, then we must surely improve a 
vast number of onr so-called homes, or detract ma- 
terially from; our ideal of perfection. 



US ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

I speak of this at length because I beheve it is 
of primary import. It is in the home that the 
ideals of life are formed. The houie is the char- 
acter factory of the zuorld. 

If the tendency of modern methods of produc- 
tion and distribution of wealth is toward the 
destruction or lowering the standard of the home, 
then it stands coiTdemned at the bar of justice, and 
should be superceded by a better method. The fact 
that the worst home conditions are always found 
where industry is the most highly systematized and 
capital concentrated, ought to lead all thoughtful 
lovers of humanity to question our present econ- 
omic system. Why is it necessary that the city 
homes of the poor or even the middle clas's should 
be so crowded ? It is simply because the land rents 
are so high. And whO' is it, let me ask, but these 
same peopJe who give this value to the land? Yes, 
in order to have a home, or even a place to lay his 
head in slumber, the toiler is forced to pay a royal 
tribute for what he himself produces and creates, 
a tribute so great that the privacy of the home 
often has to be sacrificed to meet it. 

But no matter how poverty stricken and crowded 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. ^ 149. 

the home, it is outside its threshold that the real 
industrial battles of life are being foug-ht. The 
home offers a place to sleep, if nothing more, and 
that is often the most grateful privilege of a worn- 
out mind and body. Outside the home, Hfe, for 
the poor at least, is' a constant struggle. 

The higher l&w nozv stops at the threshold of 
ei'ery home and animal lazv governs the outside 
zvorld. Is it necessary that this should be so? Why 
■can we not all co'-operate as well as the stockholders 
of the corporatiouis do ? Why should we limit our 
public conveniences to the mail service, schools, 
sewers, streets, etc. ? Co-operatioii, wisely planned 
and intelligently managed, has never failed. Pri- 
vate industries succeed only by the co-operation of 
brains, labor and capital. These prerequisites' the 
nation, as a whole, can surely command. Is there 
any reason why a man should love his brother and 
hate his neighbor? Human love is not a limited 
quantity that zve need he saving of it. It is no\ 
an attribute of the brute creation, and is not to l3e 
governed by their laws. Any economic system, 
zvhich preludes tJie higher law from its business 
life, is zvrong, and zvill eventually destroy itself. 



150 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

The opponents of socialism should weigh this 
thought carefully, remembering the while that 
history furnishes no exception to it, and that when- 
ever and wherever human selfishness has been al- 
lowed to predominate, the highest civilizations of 
earth have fallen. 

Perhaps a few thoughts relative to the reason 
for our mad desire of owning property, may not be 
amiss here. There are two varieties of wants 
which mankind strives to satisfy : First, Physical 
or personal necessities, such as food, clothing, and 
shelter ; and secondly, Social wants, or the things 
expected of him by society, such as a neat appear- 
ance, conformity to the style and customs and 
luxuries due to refinement and education. 

In his primitive, or even semi-civilized state, 
man has but few soeial want. He is also largely dcT 
pendent on himself for his supply of physical neces- 
sities. Each man, or group of persons at least, 
own all the necessary tools and implements' for 
producing their food, clothing, shelter, and also 
for reproducing the implements used. 

As soeiety progresses, and the labor becomes 
more diversified and speeialized, and as implements 



I THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 151 

become more efficient, more time and means are 
set free for gratifying social desires. 

Each man, or group, does not noAV require im- 
plements for all kinds of work, but may exchange 
the products of their own special line for those de- 
sired of some other producer. Now this process of 
specializing industry is essential to progress, and 
there can be no objection to it so long as the ex- 
change of products' is equitable and just. 

So long as each individual or group can supply 
all its' own wants independently, if desired, there 
will be no extortion or injustice possible. But at 
this point the impossibility ends, and the exclusive 
ownership of any product, or of the necessary im'- 
plements for producing it, gives an advantage, (i e., 
a proht), over those who desire it and who cannot 
produce it for them'selves'. (The premium on sel- 
fishness begins here.) It is this unfair advantage 
that makes the ownership' of implements and pro- 
ducts so valuable. Competition may force this ad- 
vantage to be limited or even to 'disappear. It is 
the desire, of the owners' of plants for producing 
special lines of goods, to reinstate that advantage, 
that impels the corporation and the trust. It seem'S 



152 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

plain, to me at least, that no civilized man needs, 
or really wants to be bothered with owning and 
operating a cotton mill, a shoe factory, a railway, 
a farm, etc., in order to supply his wants. It is 
his just share of their product only that he needs. 
Neither can he afford to be oppressed and exploited 
by all of thes'e and scores of other concerns in 
order that he m'ay get his many wants supplied. 

This is our economic problem in a nutshell. 
There is, it seems to me, but one right solution, 
and that is, to prohibit any individual fi^om owning 
any implement of production, or any more of tJie 
products of labor than he himself requires, in order 
to supply his physical and social needs. In other 
words, collective ownership of all wealth, and con- 
trol of all industry, and an equal division of the 
products. 

While writing this page, I have stopped to read 
the evening daily. My attention is especially called 
to a column article under the heading "Charities." 
Our cities vie with each other in the extent of 
their charities, and boast of their acts, loudly laud- 
ing the, millionaire who gives one per cent, of his 
income to this cause. Whose fault is it that the 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 153 

poor need charity? Would this rich man call it 
charity if he gave his money to his own kindred? 
Charity and death! How they grate on the ear 
and heart ! What one is to the physical body, the 
other is to the moral nature. The highest boast of 
any people ovight to he "zve haroe no need of char- 
ity." Peopk are slow to realize that the care of the 
weak and helpless is a moral duty of society, and 
not a privilege of the well-to-do, to be accepted or 
rejected at pleasure. That we have need for charity 
at all, and that the need of it increases as civiliza- 
tion advances and wealth increases, is one of the 
strongest reasons for condemning our economic 
system. It seems strange to m'C that the organized 
christian church will continue to devote so miuch 
of its resources and energies to charities, and still 
not lift its voice in condemnation of the economic 
system that produces so much poverty and de-- 
pen'dence. Can it be through ignorance of the 
cause, or is it through fear of alienating the patron- 
age of the rich? If the church wishes to interest 
tlie common people, it must plead their cause. 
Christ was the greatest socialist the world has ever 
known. His teachings were only the application of 



164 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

the hig-her law to human Hfe, and are all that the 
most ardent socialist of to-day demands. *'Thy 
will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven," was not 
a meaningless phrase. If it were impossible of 
accomplishment, He would not have uttered it. 
AX'hat are you doing, professed follower of Christ, 
to consummate this thought? Will you be satis- 
fied, if you find the conditions on the other shore 
similar to those existing here, for the average new- 
born babe? \\'ill you be contented and happy if 
you find there all the best locations occupied or 
held by the Judas-Iscariot real estate companies, 
at a price beyond your ability to buy? Will you 
be happy to limp along the streets, carrying your 
heavy harp, while others ride in golden automo- 
biles to divine service? Will you be willing to 
polish the trumpet and wash the robes of those 
who got in on the ground floor, in order that you 
may have a place to rest after the ceremonies ? Will 
you be willing to associate daily with a host of 
poor despised angels, with tattered robes and 
second-hand trumpets? \\'ill you — but no, the 
human mind revolts at such a conception of its 
ideal of existence. Yet are not these the very con- 



. THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 155 

ditions which confront the poor child in the most 
enhghtened countries on earth to-day? If we do 
not labor to improve these conditions', it argues 
that we ought to be satisfied with them in the world 
to come. What right has humanity to place such 
conditions in the path of the innocent child ? Are 
all men born free and ecjual, in the pursuit of happi- 
ness, when one inherits a million and the other 
poverty ? It is estimated that each morning the sun 
is greeted by four thousand new faces in the United 
States alone. What right have we to- say to three 
thousand "you shall pay to the other thousand a 
portion of your earnings throughout life, for the 
privilege of living on this earth ?" Yet this is what 
land rent means. Or by what further right shall 
we say to them "you shall be the servants of the 
others, because they own the implements by whicli 
alone you may produce your subsistence ?" These 
are questions far more momentous to humanity 
than all the creeds and dogmas of the world's re- 
ligions. Hiunanity, not angels, must be the re- 
ligion of the future. Not bliss in the next zvorld 
only, but peace and happiness in this. The people 
Zi'ill not much longer accept the churches' checks, 



156 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

payable in heaven. They zvill soon demand the 
cash. They are beginning to realize that antiquity 
has no power to make error truth, or truth divine, 
and' that virtue is its own reward. The human 
conscience is the highest court at which one's own 
acts ought to be judged. 

There has never, in the whole history of the 
w^orld, been such an opportunity for the church to 
serve humanity as here and now. She possesses 
the material equipment for reaching the people. 
She has the prestige of society and the respect, if 
not the support, of the masses. Her clergy po&sessi 
the necessary intelligence, and her influence over 
all classes can scarcely be overestimated. Will she 
embrace the opportunity? Judged by the last 
thousand years of her history, we would be in- 
clined to answer no, for she has ever been the 
friend of the oppressor, so long as the oppressor 
gave her temporal support and power. Judged, 
however, from her recent acts, there is ground for 
hope. Creeds are constantly being broadened and 
dogmas once declared essential are being ignored. 
Catholic and Protestant join hands in good work, 
and liberality characterizes, more and more, the 



i . THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 157 

acts of all denominations. Agnostics, even, are 
unopposed in their merciless criticism of what the 
church advocates, in the same section where less 
than three centuries ago, Roger Williams, for a 
much less offense, was turned out to starve or 
freeze. She has even waived her right to control 
higher education, and the unordained preside over 
her great Universities. All these things argue a 
growing liberality. Great as these changes have 
been, she is not yet abreast of economic science and 
progress. It is not the repudiation of truth that 
the church need fear, hut of superstition and 
error. Fables, parables and allegories, which may 
have been necessary for the understanding of a 
primitive race must not be interpreted literally for 
intelligent people. Let heaven and hell assume 
their true meaning of ideal happiness and misery 
in this life as well as in the hoped for or dreaded 
life to come, and let "the mystery be fully under- 
stood that love of God is love of good. That to 
be saved means only this, salvation from our sel- 
fishness." 

Conceptions of space, and the phenomena of 
nature, based on the limited observation and 



158 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

knowledge of the ancients, must not be retained 
when they have been "disproved by modern science. 
There is no conflict bczceen true religion and 
science, but theology and science are zvcll-nigh ir- 
reconcilable. Rehgious teachers sho'uld recognize 
this and not expect our intelligent children to re- 
pudiate the teaching of our secular schools, es- 
pecially when reenforced' by the proof of their own 
observation and reason. The inifh zcill ultimately 
prcrail. 

There is no evidence in nature that humanity has 
descended from a state of perfection. All science, 
history, archiology and reason point to a gradual 
but constant development. The golden age lies 
before us and not in the past. This was the real 
message of Christ, and he devoted his life to teach- 
ing humanity the way to reach it. It is largely the 
fault of theologians that His precepts have been 
misconstrued and His teaching ignored in every- 
day life. 

"Suffer little children to come unto me, and for- 
bid them not, for of such is the kingdom of Hea- 
ven," does not indicate that Christ believed or 
taught that humanity, in childhood at least, was 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. l59 

depraved or needed redemption. If the full grown 
cliild needed his teachings and example, it was evi- 
dently because of human errors and ignorance, and 
not of divine displeasure or the sins of their ances- 
tors. Children are emfblematic of Heaven, because 
they are governed by the higher law of love, and 
not by selfishness. 

Evil is to the moral Hfe what pain is to the 
physical. It should indicate to us that something 
is wrong and d'emands righting. When, the body 
is healthy there is no pain, and when society is 
properly organized evil will largely disappear. 
Good is an end in itself, because it produces' happi- 
ness, the highest attribute of humanity. It is a 
beacon light guiding men by its radiant beauty 
onward and upward to God. Evil. is only a hedge 
bordering societies way, which forces erring 
humanity back into the paths of moral progress by- 
the misery oif its poisoned thorns. - 

// Christ died to redeem the world, I believe that 
death and redemption, consisted in giving his ener- 
gies in teaching men that the higher lazvs shoidd 
govern them in all life's duties, and that zve tvill 



160 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

be redeemed only zvJieii zee fully appreciate and ap^ 
ply those laws. 

I believe that the thought is the immortal part 
of man, the so-called spirit. We know that our 
thoughts are reflected in our own lives, good and 
noble ones make us happy, and evil ones making 
us sad. I believe further in the theory that thought 
vibrations go out into space and influence other 
minds. We now know that the Hertzian electric 
waves pulsate through all space, and our scientists 
have recently been able, by means of delicate ap- 
paratus, to detect these waves hundreds of miles 
away, and use them in sending messages. As the 
coherer must be tuned, as it were, to the vibrating 
force, so, I believe, the brain of man can be attuned 
to the kind of .thought it wishes to receive from 
space. The brain, busied with thoughts of good, 
will receive that kind and vice versa. A thought 
expressed also has an influence on the receiver) 
and through the power of his memory is transmit- 
ted, cither in its original shape or modified by 
other thoughts, to future generations. This, it 
seems to me, is a rational view of immortality and 
no less inspiring than other views. 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 161 

Be these things as they may, there is" ample 
reason for the church tO' give hberal and rational 
interpretation of Christ's teachings. I have dwelt 
at some length on the religious side of this question, 
because I fully realize the necessity for rig'ht ideals 
in life, and also the power of the church in forming 
those ideals. It has a magnificent ecjuipment and 
is professedly in the work of human betterment. 
There are many reasons why it should join hands 
with any rational organization, in the uplifting of 
oppressed humanity. Its own welfare, and, in fact, 
its very existence, depends' on its being the pioneer 
or able assistant in every good work. Dogmas, 
ceremonies, creeds and minor details, should not 
be allowed to interfere with its co-operation with 
others. In this way, only, can it win the love and 
support of the masses, and fulfill its mission on 
earth. 

Before discussing laws in their legal sense, I 
wish to say a few words about the creators of 
such laws, governments. Governments are usually 
supposed to be founded for the purpose of pro- 
tecting life and personal rights. This is largely 
an error. Animals exist peaceably in large num- 



Ig2 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

bers, with no government at all. The governments 
of savage tribes are a name only, and yet so far 
as life and liberty are concerned, they are as well 
off, better off than many civilized nations. The 
real object of all political government has been, and 
is, to control the relations between people and 
capital, and to protect one class or part of the 
people in exploiting the rest. This statement 
seems sweeping and revolutionary, but it is true. 
Where classes in society do not exist, government 
is practically eliminated, and its complexity and 
power is always in proportion to the social ex- 
tremes of the classes it governs. Governments in 
some countries protect kings and royalty; in 
others, priests and castes'; in others, slave-owners, 
and in others, capitalists, either landlords or ma- 
chinery owners. The results are always the same, 
namely, the exploitatioii of poverty and labor by 
the favored classes, who virtually make the laws 
and own the government. An ideal government 
would be almost wholly economic in its functions, 
but would concern itself in preserving happy and 
equitable relations between its subjects, rather than 
the protection of capital and mens relation to it. 



I THE WARFARE OF WEALTH, 163 

This can only be brought about by abolishing pri- 
vate capitalism. 

While the founders of our government guarded 
the people to a large extent against royalty, castes, 
priests and in some states slave-owners, they open- 
ly embraced capitalists, with the result that we have 
only a change of masters. Our fundamental prin- 
ciples of law, as well as those of our religion, have 
been copied from the ancients. The Egyptians 
bought and sold, on the same system as we are 
using to-day, and the laws of each succeeding civili- 
zation were largely a reproduction of them. Pro- 
perty laws have never been founded on justice and 
equity. The rich have ever been protected in their 
advantages over the poor. Private ownership of 
land and the implements of production can never 
mean anything else. Laws have ever been the 
product of rulers, whether those rulers were kings, 
priests, feudal lords or capitalists. In the main, 
they have been in the interest of those rulers. The 
rights of the masses have seldom been safe-guard- 
ed, and their welfare has been fostered only when 
they were of use to the ruling powers. Nine- 
tenths of all our laws are property laws, and the 



164 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. . 1 

other tenth provides for crimes, growing largely 
out of the injustice due to them. Society, under 
private ownership of property has well been liken- 
ed to a cone, balanced on its apex. Every new 
movement of capital and labor produces a tendency 
to fall, and props in the form of laws are continu- 
ally require'd to liold it up, and keep it reasonably 
stable. The people of greater New York live under 
more than fifty thousand laws, some of which are 
longer than the wdiok Roman code. Fourteen 
thousand laws were passed in the United States in 
one year. A recent Congress' had twenty-four 
thousand bills before it, and passed over one thou- 
sand. The best talent in the land is required to 
explain them, and judge of their righteousness and 
legality. Yet ignorance of the law excuses no one. 
Socialism simply proposes to turn society over anc? 
let it rest oil its base. Then the supporting laws 
will be useless. The fact that we require so many 
new laws annually, and the further fact that none 
of our laws are potent in protecting the people from 
the oppression and exploitation of capitalists, ought 
to be sufficient to condemn our present economic 
system. 



' , THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 165 

The boast of the United States is that we are 
equal before the law; that the government is of 
the people, by the people, for the people. Let us 
investigate this and see how much of it is a de- 
lusion. First, what voice have the people in nom- 
inating men for office? It is well known that the 
slate is usually fixed at headquarters by the rings 
and bosses, and that the caucauses and conventions 
are mere formalities, except in case of rival fac- 
tions. A poor man, unless he be the pliant tool of 
the capitalist, has but Httle opportunity of even a 
nomination for a legislative or judicial office. 
Office-getting and office-holding has become a pro- 
fession, and the law is its training school. Once 
nominated, the capitalists from' every party, if 
necessary, unite to elect their man. Former party 
affiliations and principles count for but little when 
the pocketbook of the capitalist is in danger. The 
'dollar mark prefaces and permeates all modern 
politics. It is here, where most needed, that our 
former ideal of justice and liberty has most con- 
spicuously given way to selfishness. Note the 
political condition in all cities and towns. Searce- 
ly one in all our land but what is, or has been 



166 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. . : 

under ring-rule and plundered for the benefit of 
scheming capitalists. This is^ the most disgraceful 
page in all American history, and the most baleful 
omen of the failure of Republican government 
under private ownership of property. This is the 
more significant, when we consider that the 
tendency is more and more toward city life. 

In 1800, four per cent, of our people lived in 
incorporated cities' or towns. In 1890, forty-one 
per cent., and in 1900, forty-seven per cent. In 
New York state, sixty-eight per cent live in towns 
of over eight thousand. In Massachusetts, seventy- 
six per cent. ; in New Jersey, sixty-one per cent. 
It has become a maxim that every man has his 
price. Then, too, in the highest places, the Sup- 
reme Courts and the Senates, how few friends of 
the common people are found. Our Supreme 
Courts usually strain every nerve and avail them- 
selves of the slightest legal technicalities in order to 
favor capitalists. Their long terms of office make 
them independent of the people's desires. 

The United States Senate is an aristocracy of 
wealthy men or their representatives. Abihty 
counts for little. The protection of capital is the 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 167 

demand made of them. The public was heavily 
taxed recently to pay the expenses of war. The 
great express and telegraph companies escaped en- 
tirely. Is there any relation between these facts 
and the private interests of some of our legislators? 
Is our government by the people, when a few men 
can block legislation, recommended by the Presi- 
dent, promised by the government, and demanded 
by the people? Yet this is the condition existing af 
the last Congress. Has the legislation in New 
York City, Phila'delphia, St. Louis, Minneapolis 
and a score of other cities, been for the people ? Is 
the government of Delaware by the people when 
the wealth of one man corrupts, dictates, defies, and 
renders them helpless'? And then again, let us see 
briefly, how much of our state and national legis- 
lation is for the people. In looking over our laws, 
one finds but few which are not framed in the in- 
terest of capital. O'utside of the eight-hour law 
for government employees, and this only includes 
part of them, has the government ever exerted it- 
self to help the toiler ? Have they ever passed a law 
which enabled the debtor to pay his obligations 
in the same value of currency which existed when 



IGS ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

the debt was contracted ? Have they, excepting the 
Chinese, ever put a tariff or restriction on import- 
ed foreign labor? Have they ever Hmited the 
share which capital may claim in the product of any 
enterprise ? Have they tried to prevent the condi- 
tions, under which many single men in twenty- 
five years, have amassed fortunes of a hundred 
million dollars? On the other hand, they have 
repeatedly passed laws which appreciated the value 
of the currency and placed heavy obligations on the 
debtor. They have given away whole domains of 
our territory, and sold over thirty million acres of 
our land, to foreigTi holders, at a fraction of its 
present value. They have privileged the few bank- 
ers to issue money and on account of their wealth 
allowed them interest on bonds and at the same 
time to issue the value of those bonds, in legal ten- 
der currency. They have allowed our natural re- 
sources to become monopolized and prices to be 
placed at extortion rates. They have never inter- 
fered with the oppression of the public by the capi- 
talists. They quietly allow the continuance of 
watering stock and of capitalizing combina- 
tions on their earning power in boom times, far be- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 169 

yond their real value, thereby forcing labor to pay 
a divid'end on the fictitious values. Furthermore, 
these privileges are paid for in campaign funds to 
the party in power. Is this a government of the 
people, or by the people or for the people? I think 
not. It is rather a gOA^erning of the people hy the 
capitalists' and for the capitalists. 

But, sa3'-s the politician, the people are the capi- 
talists so how is any one injured? I admit that 
there was a time in the infancy of this country 
when all capitalists were laborers and nearly all 
laborers were to some degree capitalists. That 
that condition has passed away and that the pres- 
ent tendency is to increase the class distinction I 
hold is proven by statistics already quoted and is 
obvious to all. Changed conditions demand 
changed laws. Lazes governing economic relations 
cannot remain fixed and always be just, zi'hile econ- 
omic condition change. So far our government 
has assumed that political liberty and equality are 
all that are necessary or desirable. This may have 
been true at a time when undeveloped natural re- 
sources abounded and the means of exploiting the 
people were inefficient, but not now. The tendency 



170 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

to class formation due to the ability of the few to 
exploit the many, is only a repitition of the history 
of the civilizations long since passed away. Mod- 
ern enlightenment in applied science and mechanics 
has only served to accelerate it. 

An important factor in forcing the issive at 
this tim€ between labor and capital is the fact that 
labor has no where else to go but is reflected back 
upon the older civilization thereby aggravating the 
difficulty. Heretofore the very ones who by reason 
of their courage and energy would have opposed 
the wrongs of private capitalism have removed 
westward and developed new resources. As they 
were unorganized, and consequently weak, they 
preferred to brave the hardships of the frontier, 
rather than oppose the power of organized wealth 
at home. This great class, and they have been the 
builders of all civilizations, will now be forced to 
seek another solution to the problem. They cannot 
run away from it any longer. 

// our lazes refuse to recognise these new condi- 
tions, then these conditions will shortly refuse to 
recognise the lazvs. 

Moreover, our laws, so far as economics are 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 171 

concerned, are founded on the principle underlying 
the lower or animal law, namely, each one for him- 
self and the survival of the strongest, or in modern 
terms', the wealthiest, for wealth has now become a 
power in absorbing products, equal to all labor. 
It is true that our economic development has 
forced the copartnership, the corporation and the 
trust, all of which are socialistic in their tendencies. 
Many people are beginning to realize the drift of 
industry and to recognize the true nature of it. 
Should we not develope this tendency and seek to 
apply the higher law of love, of association and co- 
operation in all industry ? Should not human laws 
rest on a humane basis and not on a principle of 
animal life? 

If it is proper and good for us to co-operate in 
self-defense, and offense, is it not also proper and 
good for us to co-operate in self-preservation f 
Are we always to take our inspiration from a pack 
of wolves, which stand together against a common 
foe and after victory is achieved, slay and devour 
the wounded and weaker members? Our govern- 
ment has the right and duty of organizing all our 
citizens for war and defense, and it ousfht to have 



172 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

the same right and duty of organizing them for 
peace and preservation. This leads me to the sub- 
ject of human hberty. Liberty ! The most inspir- 
ing word known to man. What will he not give 
for it? More lives have been lost, tears shed and 
treasure wasted for it than for any other purpose. 
Ignorance, superstition, fear and selfishness, have 
made its conquests long and painful, and the end 
is not yet. Freedom from personal tryanny, fromn 
religioiis persecution, and from' political oppres- 
sion, have been to a large degree attained here. 
Freedom from physical poverty and want still re- 
mains to be contended for. Liberty, like love, is 
not a limited quantity. It is governed by the high- 
er laws and the only zvay to get it is to give it. It 
has been well said that we cannot oppress others 
without oppressing ourselves. This, as I see it, 
is' only the negative way of stating tlie higher law, 
that wie cannot do good to another, without re- 
ceiving good from the act. The more we give, the 
more we receive, and the more we take away, the 
more is taken from us. 

On account of the physical necessities of the 
bcdy, and the fact that nature does not provide ma- 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 173 

terial already adapted to supply these necessities, 
we can never become entirely liberated from toil. 
This is the condition of material existence. We 
cannot change it. The problem' is to approach 
the ideal as far as conditions will permit ; to get the 
desirable commodities of physical existence with 
the least toil; to relieve all from unnecessary and 
disagreeable labor, and to require from all their 
best efforts. Liberty, after all, is an attribute of the 
intellectual life. That liberty which gives the 
mind freedom of thought, and at the same time, 
supplies most economically and perfectly the imple- 
ment of thought, is' the best. Let me illustrate. 
If a man be ever sO' wise and wealthy, confinement 
in a prison will destroy his happiness, even though 
he be supplied with books, clothes, food and shelt- 
er. Or a man may possess wealth and political 
liberty, yet if he be a victim of ignorance and su- 
perstition, his hfe will be one of fear and misery. 
And then, again, if a man be ever so enlightened, 
and politically free, he is yet a slave, if required to 
expend his energies in diagreeable labor. Liber- 
ty, like health, may be distroyed in many ways. 
As pain or disease in any part of the body will 



174 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

destroy physical comfort and' pleasure, so oppres- 
s-ion in any form will destroy the happiness of 
liberty. It is not enough to be free from the per- 
sonal, the political and religious oppressor, and 
still be a slave to poverty. We might as well ex- 
pect physical comfort, having sound arms, legs 
and head, and a dyspeptic stomach. 

It is sometimes argued' that because of the ne- 
cessity of toil in supplying our physical wants, that 
industrial liberty is not possible. I submit that no 
form of liberty is absolute. Our political liberty is 
circumscribed on every hand, by the rights of others. 
We are free to act only so far as it does not in- 
fringe the rights of our fellow men. We profess 
to enjoy religious liberty, yet we are of necessity 
influenced by our invironment. The good opinions 
of o!ur neighbors, the approval of our fellows, and 
often the love and respect of kindred, depends on 
our fidelity to the popular religious teachings. 
Sin'ce we are not absolutely free in these fields, we 
ought not to be discouraged to feel that we cannot 
be entirely free from toil and cease to work toward 
that end. Rather let us join hands w:th all who 



f ^ THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 175 

love freedom and justice, in any work for the bct- 
ttrment of humanity. 

Liberty and justice are not the wards of any 
country, party, church or sc^ciety. They belong to 
the whole human family and any social movement 
that leaves out even the humblest member lacks so 
much of its full duty. 

The immortal Lincoln once said : "We cannot 
exist part free and part slaves." I would para- 
phase that sentiment, in closing this chapter, and 
say: "We can never progress, part mihionaires 
and part paupers," 



176 ECONOMIC LIBERT T VS. 

i CHAPTER V. 

sociAusM di;scribe;d, criticizkd and APPUED. 

Inasmuch as this little volume may be the be- 
ginning of socialistic study for some of my read- 
ers, I have thought best to give, at this point, a 
more complete outline of what modern socialism 
is. Like all great reforms, it has suffered from the 
pens of ignorance and fanaticism and also from 
the united efforts of private and organized capital. 
Socialism is not the product of any one mind, 
country or age. The seers of old saw and pro- 
claimed its principles. Every civilization has had 
a more or less clear conception of some of its fea- 
tures. Modern socialism, however, is limited in 
its meaning and application, to the liberating, as 
far as possible, of humanity from industrial bond- 
age and poverty. It proposes to do this by co- 
operating in the production and distribution of all 
the necessities of life and happiness, and in the 
equal, but collective, ownership of all wealth. In 
other words, to use a modern illustration, it pro- 
poses to organize the wealth of the nation into a 



j THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 377 

joint stock company, each citizen being an equal 
shareholder and' participating in the dividends, 
but not allowed to retrench his capital stock, which 
is held by the nation for its posterity. I fully real- 
ize the inability of any one, however intelligent, to 
forecast or plan a complete scheme of organization 
along constantly changing lines, especially where 
the requirements of society are so^ many and so 
complex as ours. The problem is similar to that 
confronting an architect who is rec[uired to design 
a large building in the heart of a city, when the 
owner does not know for what exact purpose the 
building may be used. 

The architect therefore provides a building which 
has the necessary requirements for the average es- 
tablishments, such as large and convenient entran- 
ces, halls', elevators and stairs, ample light and 
heat, convenient toilets and drainage, also wires, 
speaking tubes, etc., for possible use. He makes 
the building amply strong, and alsO' has an eye to 
its general pleasing appearance, with a possible fu- 
ture ornamentation. If all this' has been well 
planned, the building, with slight changes, will be 
fairly well adapted for any ordinary use. He can- 



178 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. ■ 

not foretell and plan for possible improvement in 
commerce and mechanical arrangements, but must 
use the present needs as a basis for his plan. 
So it is with the socialist, in arranging the details 
of his proposed new order of industry. He can ar- 
range only according to the present state of de- 
velopment, and for the average use. The future 
will point the way for specific changes, which may 
be necessary, on account of social progress. Critics 
of s'ocialism in general should remember this and 
not condemn the whole effort, because of the im- 
perfections in some one's ideal of it. Our present 
system has much tO' condemn, yet these same 
critics approve and claim to be satisfied with it. 

To my mind one of the greatest errors, common 
to this line of thought, is that the working people 
are the only ones to be benefitted and that the weal- 
thy shall suffer. This is not true. No wealthy per- 
son would be deprived of the necessities of life, or 
even the reasonable luxuries. They would be re- 
lieved of care and worry, due to their position as 
property-holders; they would be relieved of the 
class social strain, which is neither natural nor 
really enjoyable; they would be relieved of their 



: THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 179 

false id'eals, and their hypocrisy in religion; and 
last, but by no means least, they would be relieved 
from; confronting and daily associating with pov- 
erty, ignorance, degradation arid misery. If all 
these things are of no value to the rich, then I 
submit that they ought tO' be opposed to any effort 
looking toward the uplifting and perfecting of hu- 
manity. 

The following are a few definitions' of socialism 
from prominent sources : 

"The ethics of socialism are identical with the 
ethics of Christianity." Encyclopaedia Brittanica. 

"A theory of society that advocates a more pre- 
cise, orderly and harmonious arrangement of the 
social relations of mankind than any which have 
hitherto prevailed." Webster, 

"A science of constructing society on an entirely 
n€w basis, by substituting the principle of associa- 
tion for that of competition in every branch of 
human industry." Worcester. 

"Socialism is industrial self-government." BeH- 
amy. 
■ "The answer of socialism to th-e capitalists is 
that society can do.v/ithout him, just as society 



ICO .ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

now does without the slave-owner and the feudal 
lord, both of whom were formerly regarded as 
necessary to the well-being and even the very ex- 
istence of society." Prof. Clarke. 

Socialism is the substitution of the true for the 
false purposes of government , namely, niaintaining 
right, equitable and happy relations betzveen its 
subjects, rather than the relations of its subjects to 
capital, and the promotion of classes. 

In the more detailed description of the proposi- 
tion, I shall hold largely to the thought of Edwarcl 
Bellamy, as expressed in his works "Looking 
Backward" and "Equality." Not that it is origi- 
nal, e\en with him, but that it is the clearest con- 
ception we yet have of collectivism. First of all, 
let me tell you what rational socialism does' not 
propose to do: 

It does not propose to interfere with the home or 
any of its sacred relations. It does not propose to 
obligate any member of society to subscribe to any 
religious or any other organization whatever. It 
does not propose to interfere in any way with the 
personal liberty of any individual, nor to occupy 
his time, further than that required of him in per- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 181 

forming- his just share oi the labor necessary for 
supplying the wants of the people. It does not pro- 
pose to abridge the right of any one to produce any- 
thing for his own personal use or as a gift to oth- 
ers. It does not propos'e to dictate in any way how^ 
any person shall spend his income, other than that 
he shall not so waste it as to become a nuisance, 
or a charge upon society. It does not propose that 
any one shall be unncessarily oppressed by any one 
else, O'l- be compelled' toi perform any unjust share 
of disagreeable labor. It does not propose to 
abridge the choice of occupations, except so far as 
the necessities of the whole people may require it. 
Furthermore, it does not propose to force any one 
tc accept citizenship in the commonwealth, but to 
allow freedom and means of choice. 

Inasmuch as production always precedes dis- 
tribution, I will begin at that point. As the great- 
est item of production is food supply, considera- 
tion will be given to it first. It is often argued that 
agriculture is a branch of industry, incapable of 
being socialized, largely on account of the isolation 
of the workers. This feature of farm life, social- 
ists purpose, at the outset, to change as rapidly as 



182 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

circumstances permit. There is no reason why 
farmers cannot Hve in villages, and go to the 
land as occasion requires. This system is fol- 
lowed in many of the countries of Europe w"ith 
pleasure and profit. The isolation is done away 
with and all the advantages of society are gained. 
To be sure the farmer will need to lose some 
time, traveling to and fro, but with good roads 
and the villages close, this loss is small. In return 
for this loss, he would save the regular weekly 
trips' to market, also the frequent trips to the black- 
smith shop, harness shop, etc. His family would 
be convenient to church and social gatherings, so 
that that time of traveling would be saved. His chil- 
dren, instead of having to walk a long way to 
scliiool, daily, would be close by and could enjoy 
warm lunches and a graded school. Taken all in 
all, the financial advantages are in favor of the vil- 
lage system, even under private ownership, as 
practiced abroad, while the social advantages are 
vastly superior. There would accrue the advan- 
tages of having all the machinery for the connuu- 
nity stored close to the smith and carpenter shops 
for repairs and in dull seasons, these craftsmen 



i THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 183 

coiild provide new tools. The live stock, being 
cared for at one point, modern methods of feeding 
and breeding could be practiced. In the summer, 
the growing young stock could be pastured in the 
more remote fields. Each village would have its 
creamery, if in a dairy section, and the hauling of 
milk would cease. All the necessities of the com- 
munity would be found in each village, such as 
schools, churches, theatre or public hall, library, 
bath and gymnasium, green-hoiuse, water supply 
and drainage, athletic grounds, etc. Also such 
professional and craftsmen as might be 'desired, 
such as teachers and doctors, shoe and harness 
makers, tinsmiths, tailors, carpenters, masons, etc. 
One or more of each would be required, according 
to the size of the village, or perhaps one would 
serve for two or more villages. Every village 
would have its local or long distance phone and 
generally its own sys'tem of lighting. Trolly 
lines would connect them as at present is done in 
many parts of the country. This system would 
call for scientific and intensive farming and a con- 
si'derable area would be reserved for reforesting 
purposes and for future development. Each vil- 



184 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

lage would also be the unit in political organization 
and would have its local self-g'overnment. A 
board of trustees acting under the initiative and 
referendum would govern in all matters save the 
production and distribution of commodities. They 
would be chosen from the retired workers, who 
would have no personal interest to serve, and who 
would be liable to removal at any time. 

The direction of all production and distribution 
would be in the hands of the active workers. Their 
organization would resennble that of our present 
army. All those selecting one line of work would 
be under a major general of that industry 
who would direct themi through his subordi- 
nates. A captain would be in immediate 
charge of the work at every point, where many 
were employed in that line and would be assisted 
by his subordinate officers. He would be re- 
quired to be an expert in his line who ha'd earned 
his promotion from the ranks, and who could rise 
only on his merit. He would be advanced by 
the retired members of his craft and could be de- 
moted by the same power. I wish to s'ay, at this 
point, by way of explanation, that socialism pro- 



^HE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 185 

poses to retire all active workers at a fixed age. 
Their only public duties after this time would be 
legislative and judicial, except as tbey chose to 
assume them. Each occupation would maintain its 
own organization, similar to our present labor 
unions, and the retired members of it would form 
a guild for its directio-n. All the officers of the 
particular craft would be working members, except 
the brigadier and major-generals. These woaild 
be elected by the guild of retired craftsmen, from 
those of their members who had successfully filled 
the lower positions'. The industry in any line, 
in any state, or division correspoiiding to a state, 
would be under the direction of the brigadier- 
general, and the sub-divisions of territory would 
have other officers as found necessary. Where 
an industry called for many craftsmen, in one lo^ 
cality owing to the proximity of raw material, 
power or transportation facilities, there woiild be 
found many colonels in that line, while one would 
be sufficient in other equal territories. The cap- 
tains would be in immediate control of plants ev- 
erywhere, while the higher officers would be en- 
gaged in the general direction of work, gathering 



l8§ ECONOMIC LlBEllTt VS. 

Statistics, making estimates, requiring materials, 
making repairs and deciding on new enterprises. 
This system of organizing industry may seem un- 
reasonable to some and the title of brigadier-gen- 
eral of agriculture may sound absurd, but to me 
it is no more so than the brigadier-general of hu- 
man slaughter, which is the complete title of that 
rank in o>ur present army. All the major-generals 
both in production and distributiou would form 
the cabinet of the general, who would also be the 
President of the nation, the highest honor in the 
gift of the people. He would be selected from 
the major-generals by the direct votes of all citi- 
zei s, and could hold for one term only. 

It is proposed that factories should be located 
to advantage, as to raw materials, etc., but other- 
wise as diversified as possible. Large cities would 
become much smaller, and many of our agricul- 
tural villages would contain factories, where those 
who would otherwis'e be forced to idleness during 
a part of the year could be usefully employed. One 
source of enormous loss to our country is in the 
enforced idleness of farmers and other outdoor 



, THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 187 

workers, during the winter months. Each fac- 
tory would be equipped with the best machinery 
and would contain all possible comforts and safe- 
guards for the workers'. Constant effort would 
be made to lighten and sweeten the toil, rather than 
to increase the output. The captain of each plant 
would have his material supplied him by his super- 
iors and would have no care of his product after it 
was ready for distribution. His problem and those 
under him would be to manufacture or to produce- 
Once his product was complete, it would be im- 
mediately inspected and checked over to the de- 
partment of distribution. 

It is generally conceded that it is feasible to or- 
ganize all kinds of manufacturing, because the 
trusts have done it successfully. Surely it is not 
a long or dangerous step tO' complete the process. 
The village system in agriculture is in successful 
operation in many parts of Germany and other 
countries. The foregoing proposition can not, 
therefore, be very revolutionary. 

The great wfongs of our time, however, are 
much more in the distribution and final division 
of wealth than in its production. So far as econ- 



188 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

omy is concerned', the private capitalist has, in 
many cases, 'done as well as the socialist could 
hope to do. Outside of obviating the unnecessary 
waste and also the moi"€ disagreeable kinds of la- 
bor in production, the socialist will devote his en- 
ergy largely to righting the wrongs of distribution. 

As our village or town is to be the unit in so- 
ciety for production, so it will be in distribution 
of commodities. Each village would have* a 
general warehouse, where all the ordinary supplies 
could be had. The village store, and also those 
in manufacturing cities, would resolv-e itself into 
a sample department, where the people could see 
specimens of what they wanted, pay for the same 
and' order the real goods from the storehouse. 
Thus the goods would be bandied but once, and all 
unnecessary labor be save'd. The several divisions 
of the general storehouse would have special facili- 
ties for handling their own line of goods, and 
would be connected to the electric ot steam rail- 
roads. The orders could be delivered every 
hour or oftener, by the regular wagons. 

This leads me to the subject of paying for goods, 
etc. Socialism proposes to d'o' away with money, 



j THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 189 

as such, and' 'stibstitute for it a form of check-book 
or credit system. This check-book woiiTd differ 
from the ones now in use in the following' points : 
First, the deposit would be made by the people col*- 
lectively. Second, each citizen, male and female, 
would have the same amount annually placed to 
his or her credit. Thirdly, checks could only be 
drawn, payable to the nation, and for the personal 
use of the individual or family group. It has also 
been suggested that credit cards could be issued, so 
arranged that the amount purchased could be 
punched out as bought. Mothers would of course 
be exempt from any labor until the youngest child 
has reached the school age. Children at this age 
would begin drawing credit sufficient for their 
support, in their parents' or guardian's names, 
and this credit would continuailly increase until the 
age of discretion, when it would become equal to 
the others, and become the private property of the 
individual. This pro'vision of equal distribution 
of the proiicts of labor is often attacked. There 
has been a saying so oft repeate'd, that it has be- 
come almost an adage, that every mian is entitled 
to the product of his own labor. I do not believe 



190 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

this to be strictly true. If all men were exactly- 
equal in talent and strength, and if opportunities 
for applying that talent and strength were also 
equal, then it might be so. Otherwise, it would 
work serious injustice. We are what we are, by 
reason of our hereditary talent and of our environ- 
m^ehts. No two men are, or ever can be, equal in 
these respects. Since it takes practically as much 
to feed one man as another, and as much to keep 
him warm, (we all have the same normal tem- 
perature) and as much to shelter him, it follows 
that he should have the same resources for these 
purposes. It is argued that one man has finer 
tastes and sensibilities than another, and needs more 
of luxury on account oi it. I grant that this dis- 
parity 'exists, but, it is not the fault of the poor 
that they have not acquired a taste for better living. 
Rather is it the fault of the rich that the poor have 
had no opportunity to develope those tastes, and 
they should rightly m'ake any necessary sacrifice 
to bring their unfortunate brothers up to the high- 
er standard. Then, too, in organized society, where 
industry has become highly specialized, it is im- 
possible to say what is the exact value of any one's 



i:iii2 WARFARE OF WEALTH. l§i 

effort. "From every man according to his ability, 
to every man according to his needs," is much near- 
er to justice. That man is entitled to the fruits 
of his labor, I hold to be true in the higher or 
intellectual sense only, because God has so ordered 
it that no power on earth can deprive any man of 
his intellectual attaintoents. Knowledge and skill 
can not be inherited, bought or acquired by force. 
Neither can they be bequeathed, sold, or lost 
through misfortune. They are the product of the 
persoiTial effort of the possessor and as such be- 
long entirely to him. 

It is also argued that if each one receives the 
same allowance, however small his contributio'n to 
the supply may be, that it would put a premium on 
laziness and that no one would long have any am- 
bition. All history proves the contrary to this, 
arid our own expe'rience confirmis the proof. I wish 
to say, to begin with, that any ambition which has 
nothing but the dollar mark before it, is unworthy 
of human effort. 

Was it money that actuated Christ, or St. Fran- 
cis, or Luther? Was it money that sent mission- 
aries into the wilderness? Were the guns made of 



192 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

gold which the hght brigade charged? Was 
there a dollar mark on Washington's flag? Did 
the heroes of both amiies from '6i to '65 fight 
for the spoils of victory? Did conquest and loot 
actuate the heroes of Santiago or train the guns of 
Schley's squadron ? Did the dollar preface the no- 
ble work of Darwin, Tyndall, Agassiz, Michael 
Angelo, Raphael, Shakespeare, Longfellow and 
Whittier? No man whose ideal was w^ealth, for 
his ow^n use, is enshrined in the hearts of humanity 
to-day. The man ivho does not, to some degree, 
live in- the hearts of posterity for their good, is tru- 
ly dead. Wealth is a means and not an end, an im- 
plement only for producing happiness. If it fails 
here it is worthless. The equal pay for subsis- 
tence given our soldiers, does not prevent deeds of 
heroism in the ranks, nor prevent them from rising 
from the humblest to the highest office in the ser- 
vice on their merit. 

The fact that thoiusands of postal employees 
draw the same salary does not seem to impair the 
service. The members of Congress draw the san^e 
salary and those of parliament draw none, yet this 
makes but little, if any, difference in their efforts. 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 193 

Millionaires and poor mc'chamcs labor side by side 
in both cases. The truly great surgeon) gives his 
best skill to the pauper child, as well as to that of 
his wealthy patron. If any man has superior abili- 
ties, he should be allowed to develop and use them 
for .the good of humanity. His abilities and ener- 
gies should be rewarded by advancement in respon- 
sibility and by the gratitude and honor of his fel- 
lows, but not by dollars. This, socialism proposes 
to do, by allowing m.en to rise only on their merit, 
by public approval and honor of the successful, yet 
an equal share in the product of all. An inventor 
or author of merit would be rewarded by extra 
vacations, or advancement in his line, or a further 
opportunity of developing his talents. 

But to return again to the subject of distributing 
wealth. Transportation of all comm'odities for 
public use, also of all workers in caring for the 
national industries, would be free. This would in- 
clude the mail service, also' the public telegraph and 
telephone. For a 'phone in one's home, a reason- 
able rental would be charged, and for shipping a. 
gift tO' a friend or travelling for pleasure only, a 
charge would be made to cover the cost of same. 



194 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

Ivocal lines, such as street cars, ferries, etc., would 
be operated' free, oii' the same principle as eleva- 
tors are in business blocks. 

The subject of the home is also one of the prob- 
lems of all reforms. Rational socialists do not pro- 
pose to interfere with the home life of our people. 
I do not believe that the home relations e^cisting be- 
tween parents and children should be superceded 
by any other arrangement. Under the socialistic 
regime, women woul'd be emancipated from' men's 
charity and would become indfependent of them; so 
far as support is concerned. Marriages would be 
for love only. This one step, it seems tO' me, would 
be the greaftest ever taken by humanity toward hap- 
piness. How many women to-day, because of 
their economic dependence, marry men they do not 
really love. How many worthy younig men sacri- 
fice the noblest passiion of their being because they 
feel they cannot support the woman they love, in a 
respectable manner. The deds of vice in every 
city, which defy the church, organized charity, law 
and decency, are a living witness to the failure of 
our social economic organization' along this line. 

It is often argued that all our residences would 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 195 

have to be alike, and that inidividuahty would be 
lost. This again would not follow. Homes would 
be rented the same as now, except that the rents 
would be less. A small family would not wish to 
occupy .a large house, on account of the cost, 
while a large family or group of people might pre- 
fer to have a larger and more S'pacious place. Nb 
one would have any object in going beyond his 
means in the matter of unused rooms, as all would 
know that he must sacrifice in some other way. 
Then again, our house's would be furnished plainly, 
but comfortably. Much of the useless bric-a-brac 
and fancy furnishings would' disappear. They 
would fail to symbolize wealth, and, being useless 
and troublesome to care for, would rapidly be dis- 
carded for sensible things. Few houses would con- 
tain fully equippedi kitchens, arid many would not 
even have dining-rooms at all, the occupant living 
entirely at the public dining apartment, or buying 
meals from the public kitchen adjoining it. True, 
all women would be taught the rudiments of cook- 
ing, but the saving in this one branch, by co-opera- 
tion, would be eniormous. It would mean an eman- 
cipation for wotnien, greater than that brought 



196 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

about by the spinning-jenny, the power-loom and 
the sewing machine. We go out to school, to 
church, to theatres and to business, and why not 
go out to meals if the walk was short or the car 
fare free? Besides every family might own a mo- 
tor carriage of its own. 

All houses would be detached and built with an 
eye to comfort. Any liead of a family might or- 
der a house to his taste, or he coul'd buy materials 
and build for himself, if he chose to do it on his 
own time. The rent would be in proportion to 
what the public had invested im it, and he could 
not sell it to another, but might bequeath it, to- 
gether with his personal belongings. I would be 
disposed to make this one exception to public own- 
ership of property, because I know that attachment 
for one's' home is almost equal to his affection and 
love for his kindred. 

In pricing any article, the amount of labor ex- 
pended in producing it would be considered. Ouri 
decimal system of money value would be retained, 
but simply as a unit of measure. NO' one having 
anything to sell except the government, there would 
be no need for a medium of exchange. At the 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 



197 



end of the year all unused credit would be void, 
except for special reasons, such as a prcibable 
heavy expense for some specific purpose. If one 
wished to travel abroad, or for some equipment 
for private study, etc., he might be allowed to save 
for one or two years, but parsimony would be 
frowned upon, and not considered a virtue as it is 
now. Besides the estimate for the new year would 
require that no considerable amount of credits be 
outstanding. None need save for the future, nor 
deny him.self any of the comforts of life, on ac- 
count of his family. AM schools would be support- 
ed by the nation, and be uniform in their curricu^ 
lum and grading. Every child would be required 
to attend the common school, the high school and 
also the academic departments. Those who desir- 
ed and showed an aptness for it would be allow^ed 
to take a course in the professional schools . Cour- 
ses of general instruction would also be given for 
the benefit of those past the school age, but who 
wished to pursue their studies further. In fact, 
every sort of encouragement would be given to in- 
tellectual development. After reaching the limit 
of school age, all except those choosing profes- 



198 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. '■ 

sions would be enrolled in the industrial' army and 
would receive full credit allowanice. They would 
enter the unclassified service for two or three years, 
and be liable for any kind of duty at any place that 
the general weal required. After this time, they 
would be allowed to choose their vocations, so far 
as possible, and their record up to this time would 
decide who had the preference, in case more chose 
one line than were needed. A second and even 
third choice nuight be indicated by each one, in case 
of failure to enter the first line chosen;. A& dis- 
agreeable labor of all kinlds would be rapidly elimi- 
nated wlien it had to be done by people of initelli- 
gence and who also had the resources to improve 
it, and as the harder kinds of work would require 
shorter hours or give longer vacations, a balance 
could ea'S'ily be reached. Very few people to'-day 
are able to follow the callings they prefer. This 
is evidence'di by the large number who are engaged 
iu' dangerous and disagreeiable occupations- at 
small wages. For every one who now succeeds, 
many fail, but we do not hear of tlnem or attribute 
their failure to our ecouomic system. 

At the age of forty-five or fifty, the active work- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 199 

ers would be mustered out. They would still draw 
their pro rata share of the credit, but be free to en- 
joy their dedinimg years. It is designed that 
the active workers sball have less than their pro- 
duot in order that the children, the unfortunate and 
tlie aged, shall have their proper support. Those 
who were on the retired list would still have the 
duty of supervising the promotions in the indus- 
trial army, each guild attending to its own occu- 
pation. They would also be liable for judicial and 
legislative duties, and would act aiS counselors and 
advisors when required. They would be the only 
ones to enjoy full economic fre'edom;, the perfec- 
tion of liberty. Thus it would be possible for every 
mian and woman to enjoy an ideal existence, dur- 
ing the afternoon of life, and not have to look for- 
ward to it with a dread and' fear of want and de- 
pendence, as the great majority novv^ do. Odd age 
would not be the dreary part of life, arid smiles 
would replace the lines of care in many faces. The 
saddest picture that human pen can draw is old age, 
coupled with poverty or dependence. Why should 
we hold to a system of living that so often makes 
death a welcome messenger, or prefers it to life ? 



2!)0 ECONOMIC LIBERTY Vg. 

I fully realize that the foreg'oinig is only an out- 
line of wliat socialism stands for. Many details 
are purpo'sely omitted, because tliey are always the 
prod'uct O'f conditlions, which coinstaiitly change. 
Nor have I pictured a woi'id far remioved' from our 
own, in the matter of intelligence and resources. 
None of the changes suggested are so radically 
new as we are often disposed tO' think. We have 
m'uch of co-operatioiT in the woidd to'-day, and the 
tendencies of our times are continually making in 
that direction. The firm, the corporation and the 
trust, are all steps by which production is con- 
stantly tending toward a co-operative basis, and 
what is needed most is a just scheme of final dis- 
tribution. Here co-operatioii ends, and selfishness 
begins. Fot there is, in modern business, no pre- 
tense even of fair dealing in this regard, and the 
one who most effectively appropriates tlie earnings 
of others is co'nsid*ered a successful man an<l is held 
up a:s a modiel. 

"What I zi'onld be wnvilling to do for another, 
I unll not ask him to do for me" ought to be the 
motto of the true socialist, and although it may be 



j : THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 201 

the g'O'ldeii rule, alloyied' with practioe, it will, like 
other alloys, only serve to make it applicable and 
to wear better. 

In connection with this part of my subject, I 
wish tO' describe and in some cases criticize some O'f 
the m'any other propositions which have been ad- 
vanced for the betterment oi society. As the first 
and in fact all the great reform's wili need to come 
throug-h the g'overnmenit, (the laws being to blame 
for O'Ur present growing troubles) it is highly nec- 
essary that the people shall have complete control of 
legisilatio'B. Government ownership is desirable 
only in case the people own the government and 
have it at all itimes under control. Under oiu* form 
of government, this can only be brought about by 
means of the initiative and referendum. As some 
of my readers may not be familiar with the mean- 
ing of these terms, I will devote a few paragraphs 
to them'. The initiative means that a reasonable 
number of citizens of the city, county, state or na- 
tion may draft a bill and demand that the legisla- 
ture act upoin it, and that if it fails to pass that 
body, a still greater number may demand that it be 
referred to a vote of the people, the majority mak- 



202 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. [ . 

ing it a law or rejecting it. The referendum pro- 
vides that any law, passed by the Legislature, may 
at the request of a certain number of citizens be 
referred to the people for approval or disapproval, 
their majority vote 'deciding its fate. This sys- 
tem practically destroys lobbying, and tends both 
to purify law-making bodies from financial corrup- 
tion, and also to interest the masses in law-making. 
It puts the government directly in the hands of the 
people, and the masses have to become corrupt be- 
fore the laws become oppressive. Switzerland,^ 
New Zealand and parts of Australia have now 
adopted it. In our own country, Illinois, Oregon, 
Utah and South Dakota have recently voted in fa- 
vor of it. 

It is thoroughly successful in every case. It makes 
legislatures simply advisory bodies in law-making 
and laws passed by them seldom require to be ques- 
tioned. From recent experience, it might be well 
to apply it to our judiciary also. 

Another of the most practical reforms is the so- 
called single tax, as elaborated by Henry George. 
Briefly described, it proposes to take as a tax the 
value in location or natural wealth, that land has 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 203 

by reason of the demands of society. For instance, 
in chapter one, we saw how one of our piomeers 
received $i,ooo for the sake of his location in the 
settlement, while another OAvning, a town site and 
water power, made a fortune cut of his farm by 
selling it off in small lots. Still another, by own- 
ing a lime-stone quarry, was able to oppress his 
neighbors beyond reason in the price of lime. 
These values were not created by the owners of 
these properties, but by a society at large. The 
single taxers propose to use this value created by 
society, for the benefit of society, by taxing this 
value only, and relieving all other forms of proper- 
ty from tax burdens. Society has never received a 
more just or reasonable proposition. If what an 
individual creates belongs to him, surely what so- 
ciety creates shouldl belong to society. As this 
value, or its interest, namely, land rent, would 
probably furnish more than ample tax rev^enue, all 
other taxes could be omitted. Hence, it is called 
the single tax. This reform has the further ad- 
\-antage that it taxes oriy visible property, which 
cannot escape by falsehood or fraud. It puts a 
premium on the use of land, ins'tead of on the dis- 



204 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

use of it, as at present is done. It would force land 
to be used or abandoned, thereby making it practi- 
cally free. It would injure no o^ne but the specula- 
tor, and would effectually curb landlordism. It 
is the most far-reaching and potent of all reforms 
so far proposed, which do not destroy private own- 
ership of property. The ignorance of the people 
as to its true value and justice is all that prevents 
its general adoption. Socialisits, generally, will 
welcom.e its application, as a long step towards the 
ideal in society. We do not believe that it will be 
sufficient for all the ills of society, because it still 
lea^•es the ownership a part of the implements of 
production in private hands, and thereby allows the 
rich to oppress the poor. 

The reform tJiat does not strike at Jiiunan 
selfishness, as icell as injustice, will never 
he entirely effective. If manufacturing and 
transportation are left as they now are, and the ac- 
cumulatetd wealth be allowed to draw interest and 
dividends, then single tax carried to its ultimate 
limit of freeing the land entirely will not pre^'ent 
class formation or the continued concentration of 
wealth. ]\Iany are dispose'd to think that single 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 205' 

tax is a tax on land only, regardless of its value, 
and that it is a scheme to fleece the farmers, but 
such is not the case. The value of city land, is in 
some states, greater than that of the rural districts. 
In New York state, over 75 per cent of the value 
of bare land is inside of corporate limits, and in 
Massachusetts, over 87 per cent. Not many 
coiuities in New York state, exclusive of towns, 
would buy one acre in the heart of New York Cit}", 
using the land without improvements in both cases. 
Again, it is argued, and with some show of truth, 
that the great factories and accumulation of wealth 
would go untaxed. \\^hile this at first seems 
wrong, yet a careful analysis will always show that 
wealth pays little or no tax now. Labor pays it 
nearly all. The ones who use the wealth are re- 
quired to pay not only for its use, but also its tax. 
So any burden put upon the manufacturers, or 
any human industry, eventually is paid by the toil- 
er, and furthermore, it taxes just the thing which 
ought to be encouraged. 

However J if is not a "single tax on land values 
for the use of government," zchich the civilised 
Zi'orld needs to-day, but a "single tax on meni 



M ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

abilities for flic use of hiiinanity." 

One is no more a social product than the other, 
and the latter is the primary and active factor in 
all progress and human happiness. 

Another institution for the benefit of labor is the 
trade unions, brotherhoods and fedieration's of la- 
bor. In as much as these organizations do not 
propose to radically change our exising economic 
relation;s, but are largely combatative for economic 
gain, they are not truly reforms. Their tendency 
to mutual helpfull'ness and their practical service to 
labor in aiding it to get a fair share of its product, 
merit our sympathy and commendation. Their 
work is along the right line and as a practical tem- 
porary relief from capitalistic oppression is emi- 
nently satisfactory. Organization always means an 
increase of power and must be wisely used in order 
to be a benefit. Wise and conser\-ati\'e manage- 
ment is here demanded in order that this great 
power be wielded for good. Mon'0[X)lies of labor 
may become oppressive, as well as those of capital, 
if used selfishly. 

It is a duty which labor owes to its posterity to 
search out the cause of its warfare with capital and 



j THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 207 

if possible abolish it. So long as warfare continues, 
the accumulation of intelligence crystalized in ma- 
chinery and the further accumulation O'f interest 
and profit bearing wealth, will put labor at a greater 
and greater disadvantage. Strife and contention 
are not, or ought not to he, attributes of humanity. 
They belong to the animal world and can accom- 
plish only the same results as animals accomplish. 
Labor should ever remember the oft quoted adage 
of Gen. U. S. Grant, "Great men reason; little men 
Ught." If he, the greatest fighter of modern times, 
could look upon strife in this light, ought not la- 
bor begins to use its reason more and its fists less ? 
We can never cure impure blood with poultices. 

Another pro'po'sition for reforming society, but 
which has usually met with failure, is commiunism. 
This is often confounded with, socialism, but noth- 
ing could be wider apart than they are in many es- 
sential features. Communists differ largely in 
their specific views of reform but, for the most 
part, have some central hobby, around which all 
else revolves, and to which all else is subordinated. 

This is usually a religious creed. The commu- 
nities are generally founded by fanatics and peo- 



208 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. : 

pie of narrow views in political economy. Their 
foltowers are usually of an ig-norant and often 
ne'er-do-well class. They ignore the fact that they 
are surrounded with adverse conditionis. Their re- 
sources are limited and by reason of it, they are 
obliged to come constantly in contact with out- 
side influences.- They often ignore the home, and 
live in a common dormitory, eating at a common 
table. Family ties are, in some, extremely loose, 
and the principle of natural selection, (animal in- 
stinct,) is given full pl'ay, with the result that the 
unfavored ones are scon dissatisfied. The relig- 
ious fen^or of the members often holds a society 
together for many years, and some of them are 
still in existence. Most of them' were financially 
successful, as long as properly managed. Some 
of them: were closed corporations, while others 
were merely held tog^ether by religious ties, leav- 
ing private property alone, and giving the individ- 
ual full power of initiative. Such is the Mormon 
church to-day. While co-operating in spirit, the 
church is not the real owner oi the property, and 
charity finds its victims here as elsewhere. Rich and 
poor dwell in the same city, but the religion is 



j : THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 209 

practical enough to forbid the extremes of pover- 
ty fomiid in eastern cities'. I seriously doubt if the 
unoirganized pioneersi of the west could ever have 
done v>^ith the wilderness about Salt Lake what 
the organized Mormonisi have accomplished. Theii; 
success illustrates what partial co-opcratioii can do-, 
even under adverse conditionis. 

Comm'unism; usually hasi a limited scope, and a 
narrow view of the meeds of humanity, and fur- 
thermore, it usually starts out with the fsttering of 
one's intellectual liberties. It is Necessarily local 
in its applicatioo and must be surrounded with op- 
posing customs. 

When there is poison in the system, coming from 
impure food and drink, it is folly to poultice a band 
or a foot, hoping to extend the poultice wheui the 
poisou fro'm that part has been removed. This is 
what communism tries to do. Socialism, on the 
other hand, while not denying the virtue of local 
applications, for acute local pains, proposes to 
eliminate the poison iry the ooly rational way, 
namely, by purifying the food and drink, and im- 
proving the sanitai*y environments. This once 
done, the whole system will care for itself and 



210 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

throw off the poison through th'C ad'cquate and 
proper charaiels. Not only this, but it will keep in 
a healthy condition, so long as thus supplied, 
Rational socialism is not confined to any one vil- 
lage, county, state or nation. It is as co-extensive 
as civilization and intelligence. It strives to re- 
form society by ehminating the bad which is in it 
and retaining the good, by ridding it of the poison 
of selfishness, which now courses through all veins. 
It does not pi"opose to destroy the present diseased 
body, as anarchy does, with the hope that the one 
taking its place will be better, even if fed on the 
same impure food. Neither does it propose to shut 
its eyes and lay our present disease to divine provi- 
dence and simply hope for a better life in the spirit 
world, without trying to live right in this, as some 
creeds have proposed. It proposes the only ration- 
al remedy, that of eliminating the poison in the 
blo'od, selfishness, by abolishing its residt, private 
capitalism. It proposes to organize society by the 
higher human law of love and liberty, rather than 
leave it governed by the animal- law of the survival 
of the strongest which has now come tO' mean the 
wealthiest. 



THE WARPAKE OF WEALTH. 2Ii 

This leads, me to another phase of the subject, 
the progress and present condition of socialism in 
the civilize'd countries of the world. For conven- 
ience, I will separate it into two parts, first, the 
political side of socialism, and second, the econom- 
ic or material side : 

' Most people are apt to look upo-n socialism' as a 
political fad, similar to populism, prohibition, etc. 
They do not recognize in it anything but a well- 
meant, but usdies's struggle oi the oppressed, for a 
better conditioin of existence. Few are they, in- 
deed, who fully understand its basic philosophy, 
or its far-reaching aims. People of the United 
States are apt to think it a purely American idea, 
which is connected in som'e way with anarchy or 
trades unions. As a matter of fact, it is centuries 
old in principle, but is modern in its developm.ent. 
It is at present a prominent factor in France, Ger- 
many and other European nations. Socialists in 
Germany now poll over two million votes, and 
show a steady increase since 1871. They now have 
nearly a majority in the national legislature, and 
control many of the principle cities. 

In France the Socialists now number over one 



212 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

million voters, -and 140 legislators are chosen by 
them. 

In England the principles of socialism are strong 
but it has not as yet made as much progress as a 
separate party. Its influence has, however, been 
felt in many ways, and its demands are often em- 
bodied in legislative acts. 

Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Switzerland, are 
strong socially, and the influence is felt in each 
government. New Zealand and Australia are in 
advance of Europe in this line. 

In the Undted States the growth has been more 
recent, but not less rapid: In 1900, the total social- 
ist vote was 86,000, and in 1902 was over 350,- 
000. This is a gain of over four hundred per cent 
in two years, and those years of so-called prosperi- 
ty at that. These votes were not localized or con- 
fined to any industry, but came from the country 
as well as the town, and represent sober, second 
thought oil our modern industrial conditions. 

Ohio gave 15,000, Illinois 25,000, Minnesota 
12,000, California 12,000, New York 32,000, 
Massachusetts 40,000, etc., so that no local condi- 
tion is responsible for the growth. The more 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 213 

thoifghtfiil and' inteiligent of our people are begin- 
ninig to realize that it is all but useless to talk Oi£ 
regulating trusts. The fact that none of our so- 
called' great men agr'ee as to^ the remedy, shows 
their helplessness. They blindly say, "be g^'ood and 
something will happen." L/iterally translated, 
their advice seems about this : If there is any- 
thing good in trusts, help it along, if bad, get rid 
of it some way, but whaitever yoii do, be careful, or 
we will have a panic. 

At this point I wish tO' insert the declaration of 
principles of the nationalists, or most advanced so>- 
ci'alists. 

"The principle of the brotherhood of humanity 
is one of the eternal truthsi that governs^ the world's 
progress on lines which distinguish human nature 
from brute nature. 

The principle of competition is simply the appli- 
cation of the great law of the survival of the 
strongest and most cunning. 

Therefore, so long as competition continues to- 
be the ruling factor of our industrial system', the 
highest development of the individual cannot be 



214 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

reached, the loftiest aims of hii'manity. cannot be 
realized. 

No tnith can avail unless practically applied. 
Therefore, those who seek the welfare of man 
must erbdieavor to suppress the system foimded on 
the brute principle of competition, anil put in its 
pkce another based on the nobler principle of as- 
sociation. 

But in stri\'ing to apply this nobler and wiser 
principle to the complex conditions of modern^ life, 
we advocate uo sudden or ill-considered changes; 
we make no war upon individuals ; we do not cen- 
sure those who have accumulated' immense for- 
tunes, simply by carrying to a logical end the false 
principle on which business is noAv based. 

The combinations, trusts, and syndicates, of which 
the people at present complain, demonstrate tli3 
practicability of our basic principle of association. 
We merely seek to push this principle a little fur- 
ther, and have all industries operated in the inter- 
ests of all, by the nation, the people organized, tlie 
organic unity of the whole people. 

The present industrial system proves itself wrong 
by the immense wrongs it produces; it proves it- 



I THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 215 

sfclf absurd by the immense waste of energy and 
m'aterial which is admitted to be its concomitant. 

Against this system, we raise our protest; for 
the aboHtion of the s'lavery it has wrought and 
would perpetuate, we pledge our best efforts." 

I challenge the best reformers of the world to 
produce a grander or a nobler declaration than the 
above. The Magna Charta and the Declaration 
of Inidependence are alone in its class. It is the 
last and greatest of the three. Most so-called plat- 
forms are required to be explicit in their demands, 
and often things are omitted or inserted, which 
ought not to be. The above, however, embraces 
the basic principles of all the reforms along these 
lines. 

There is also, of late, a coos'iderable number of 
church workers who style themselves "Christian 
Socialists." The wonder is that more of them have 
never appreciated the isocialistic "dottrines of their 
leader and tried to apply his teachings. I am glad 
to say that several churches are beginning to real- 
ize their obligations to labor, and the cry for chari- 
ty at home should indicate to them where the O'p- 
pression is. 



216 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

In concluding this part of my subject, I wish to 
say a few word's relative to the politics of our time. 
Both of the great parties are dominated and con- 
trolled by capitalists. The last three presidential 
campaigns show how much more the leaders think 
of their money, than of their former principles. 
The tariff never has been a real issue before our 
peopile. It is simply a blind held up by capita-lists 
to attract the attention of the people, while they per- 
fect their schemes for exploiting them.. Can any 
one give a valid reason why there should be a pTO- 
tective tariff against Canada, or England, in favof 
of the United States, and free trade between Massa- 
chussetts and Illinois? Illinoisi people are as dif- 
ferent from those of Massiachusetts as' are the 
Americans from the English. Moreover, Illinois 
needs funds for her state expenses, as badly as does 
the general government. She also needs manu- 
facturing as badly. Pray tell us, Mr. Politician, 
why protection was necessary to- develop manufac- 
turing in New England, as opposed tO' England, 
when free trade did the same for Illinois as op- 
posed to Masisachusetts ? The plain facts are that 
maniufacturing ultimately follows the raw material 



THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. 217 

and market, proitected or not. The development 
■in thfe cotton' manufacturing in the 'southern states 
during" the ila-st ten years, has exceeded thait oi any 
other portion O'f the country, during double that 
time, and no protection wa-s necessary to effect a 
change. Illinois is a great manufacturing state, be- 
cause she has the raw miiaterials at harid, and also 
the home market fo^r the pro'duct. These condi- 
tions always draw manufactories, reg*ardless of 
tariff* or freie trade. Why should we protect the 
product of a billiou) dollar steel plant, with a tariff, 
when this sam^e pilant is selling its prodoict abroad 
for less than we are charged at home. We use a 
thousand dollars worth of its protduct for each one 
imiported. Who, in this case, is paying the tax, 
ourselves or the foreigners? Is it not time that 
such infants were weaned ? Capitalists have reach- 
ed a point where they will make any sacrifice to 
carry an election, because they have founid by ex- 
perience that it pays them tO; do it. Labor can hope 
for but little from' the present regime. Under pri- 
vate ownership of property, labor and capital, 
which should be twin birothers- in production, are 
necessarily enemies. This is the great issue to-day. 



218 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

and will remain, the real issue until it is settlea 
right. Until labor ozvns the implements of produc- 
tion, it will never be free, and until it is free, it imll 
never be contented and Imppy. The dollar sign 
must come after hnmanity and not before it. 

Before closiing this part of my subject, I wish to 
give a short synopsis of the achievements of so'- 
cialism, or co-operation, in a practical way. We 
are prone to think that because the sociailist party is 
comparatively modern, that the principles for 
which it stands are also modern, but such is not the 
case. Co-operationj and' association are as ol'd: as 
civilization itself. Private ownership has ever 
been able to iimiit its applicatioii', however, to a 
comparatively small sphere. However, it is ap- 
plied in modern times much more than most 
people think. Ameiricans are quite apt toi be egotis- 
tical regarding their political progress. As a matter 
of fact we mow Sitand second tO' many countries in 
this line. New Zealand not only owns her railroads 
but much of her land as well. She also operates a 
large part of her life and fire insurance. She has 
universal suffrage, also the initiative and referen- 
dum. She keeps open employment agencies and 



' THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 219 

furnishes free tr'ansportatioin t'O^ those seeking em- 
ployment. She employs, surpllis' labor 'dliring the 
winter months on public works. She dire'ctly con- 
trols all her currency an'di was able toi ward Oiff the 
woirld-wide panic of 1893. She has a graduated 
income tax, ailsO' a graduiated land tax, taxing at 
a higher rate large holdings, and especially those of 
alien landfords, w'hiile small holdiing-s are mostly 
exempt. She owns her telegraph and telephones, 
as wel'l as express andi mail service. Her legisla- 
lature is practically free from fraud and lobbying; 
her people are prosperous^ and contenited', and are 
united in developimg social reforms. Poverty is 
rare and beggary unknown. 

Should New Zealand and the United States both 
continue in their present tendencies, it may not be 
impossible that the prediction will come true that, 
"the New Zeaianders may one' day sit upon the 
ruined tower of the Brooklyn bridge and gaze 
across a 'desert waste." 

Germany, Austria, Belgium., Switzerland and 
somie other European countries, own; their railroads. 
Great Britain and many others own their telegraphs 
and telephones and also operate the parcel post, 



220 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

N-early all' gioverntnenfts' own- their mail equipmient 
to a large extemt, an'd always operate the service. 
They also own their military and' naval equipments 
and' all buildings for governmental purposes. 
Many special function's are operated by the public, 
such as light-houses, life-saving stations, quarara- 
tin'es, etc. The common highways, canals and 
harbors, streets and sewers are public. O'ur schools, 
churches, libraries, hospitals, museums, asylums, 
courts, jails, reformatories, alms'-houses, police and 
fire protection are all co-operative. Many insur- 
ance companiies, both life and fire, are in the same 
line. Creameries and canning factories, as well as 
other kinds of factories, are often co-operative. 
In addition to this, many cities own their water 
works and lig-hting plants, and some their car lines. 

Glasgow owns her street car lines, and has by 
such ownership and operation reduced' the fares 
33 per cent., reduced hours of labor and raised 
wages. Workingmen are carried for i cent, night 
and morning. 

Prices of water and lights have been reduced 
in nearly every case by public ownership. 

Our go\'ernment, of which we so often boast, is 



I THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 221 

emphatically co'-operative. Another social featurie 
of mOidern businiess' life shoiul'd not be here over- 
looked, and that is co-operative business societies. 

Great Britain has 1648 of these organizations, 
which last year did a total business of over 400,- 
000,000 of doillairs and distributed a profit oi 45,- 
000,000 of dollars. These enterprises include' 3,000 
stores, two of the largest wholesale houses in the 
world, eight steamships and many factories. These 
societies have reduced the average cost of distribu- 
trO'O of products from over 33 per cent, to 61-2 
per cent, of the retail price. 

Siwitzerlarid has 3,400 such societies and their 
annual business exceeds 11,500,000 of dollars. 
One-sixth of the whole population are connected 
with co-operative societies. 

Germjany has 1,700 co-operative societies and 
their membership exceeds 2,000,000 people. 

Austria has 5,092 co-operative societies with 
212,000 mdmbers, arid their annual business ex- 
ceeds $13,500,000. 

France has 2,500 co-operative agricultural socie- 
ties with 800,000 members; 1849 distributing so- 
cieties, and 25c co-operative shops and factories. 



222 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

Denmark has 1,052 co-operative dairies, which 
do an annual business of $34,000,000. Also about 
850 co-operative societies, the total miembership of 
all being over 350,000. 

The United S'tates has recently taken up the work 
along this line, but is making rapid progress. Al- 
ready one confederated concern has a capital of 
over $1,000,000 and operates many stores. In- 
telligence, rather than enthusiasm, is controlling 
tlie movement, and we may confidently expect 
rapid and solid progress. 

Every corporation, private or public, is a co- 
operation of members to accomplish some desired 
end. Should socialism be called revoilutionary, 
because it proposes to add one more step and m'ake 
the people joirtt partners in producing an'd distri- 
buting the other necessaries of life? Surely we 
ought not to hesitate toi improve and progress 
along lines that have always proved so successful 
and beneficial. Is there any legitimate reason why 
we should co-operate tO' such an extent as we do, 
and then stop at the most impo^rtanl; point, for the 
benefit of a few capitahsts? Especially is this act 
littk less than criminal, when we consider the mil- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 223 

lions of inniocent and' helpless people made miiser- 
able by reason of it. 

The few rich alonie, who might be calkd on to 
sacrifice so'me of their useless luxuries, would not 
lose any of the comforts of life, but would be far 
happier surrountded by an intelligent and happy 
people. They wiould not need worry and fear the 
strikes, riots and revolutions of poverty, or the 
thief, the robbeir and the assassin. Neither would 
they need fear the treachery of those who w'ere 
mjore po'werful in wealth than themselves, an item 
of no small import. 

"No truth call) avail unless practically applied." 
Thus far I have endeavoured to describe the prin- 
ciples of socialism and illustrate its truths. A pro- 
gressive business man, however much he may be 
disposed to agree with any schem'e, will promptly 
ask "Is it practicable?" If so, how can it best be 
applied? Here is the point where most reforms 
fail, and failing here, all is lost. The principles 
of associatioin and co-operation advocated by the 
modern socialist have been thoroughly proved by 
experience. There is no doubt of their succcess, 
when applied to government and religion for that 



224 , ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

is now an accomplislied fact. Neither is there any 
doubt of the advantage of their appHcation in 
the production of weahh. 

Our modern corporations and trusts are 
so successful that most of them are capitahzed at 
doub'Le their cost, yet pay handsome dividends 
where the former independent concerns were some- 
times run at a loss. The really novel feature of 
sociaHsm is in its scheme of equal distribution. In 
order to thoroughly systematize production and 
transportation, at least so far as manufacturing is 
concerned', it will only be necessary to allow the 
present forces to act a little while longer, and then 
let the government take control of the surviving 
corporation. No sensible person wishes to see our 
present system abohshed in a day, or to cause un- 
necessary loss and suffering. Many people pro- 
pose confiscation of capital on the groimds of un- 
just privilege in its accumulation, but we should 
remember that it is our laws, rather than the 
capitalists acts, that are to blame. Real progress 
is always by evolution and not by revolution. The 
people are not yet ready for the entire change, but 
are ready for a beginning, and it is highly desir- 



TH]6i WARFARE OF WEALTH. 225 

able that they have a clear conception of the canse 
of our present troubles, the end tO' be ultimately 
attained, and the methods to be used. 

Education is, therefore, the first requisite. Our 
institutions are found'ed largely on popular senti- 
ment, and this sientiment must be crystalized into 
an ideal, which condemns the present wron^gs and 
demands their righting. 

As onr civilization is extremely complex, so 
must the method of refarmi be more or less varied. 
We must not repel any effort which tends in the 
right direction. Their work may be limited and 
specific, but is none the less necessary. No single 
agency will reform the world. If schemes are 
irrational and useless, it is better that they have 
an opportunity to demoinistratie their weakness, and 
those which are only local and benefit a few are 
better than none at alil. It is all in the line of 
necessary education, and serves to furnish mis- 
takes for the guidance of future progress. 

As the socialists have never, in this- country, at 
least, promulgated any fixed scheme of change from 
present conditions, I shall adopt those which seem 
to me the most ratiorial. 



226 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

First, the initiative and referendum m all legis- 
lation. Without this, there is but little hope of a 
peaceful adjustment of economic troubles. 

Second, the direct issuance and control of all 
moneiy by the general government. 

Third, the government ownership of all rail- 
roads and other tramsportation facilities employed 
by the public, and also of all telegraphs and long dis- 
tance telephones. The municipal ownership of all 
public utilities requiring franchises and the govern- 
ment ownership or control of all natural monopo- 
lies., such as co'al field's, oil or gas fieilds, etc. 

Fourth, the establishment of the single tax for all 
general revenue purposes. 

Fifth, a graduated interne and in'heritance tax 
for the benefit of higher education. 

These reforms, together with the rapid growth 
of co-operative societies would relieve us of many 
of the ills of modern coriditions. However this 
may be, we s'houM still have great wealth in pri- 
vate hands in money, buildings and factories^ and 
poverty and extreniie wealth would continue. So 
long as one person ownsi the imiplement with which 
another is obliged to toil, and so long as that im- 



I THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 227 

plement absorbs a part oi the proid'uct of that toil, 
capital will accumulate in private hand's and labor 
will be oppressed. 

In my humiWe estimation! theire is but one way 
by means of which coltectivism' can supercede pri- 
vate capitalism without force and that isi by univer- 
sal and simultaneous application. 

If any civilized country were left under private 
capitalism while socialism' is applied elsewhere then 
the capitalists will go there, taking their capital 
with them, thereby making it miuch more difficult 
to obtain poiss'ession of the vast wealth now owned 
by them. If all civilized counitries or at least the 
leading ones act in harmony force can be entireily 
avoided. The most hopeful' sign of the socialistic 
tim;es is that socialism' is co-extensive with civiliza- 
tion and is evidently the result of earnest thought 
and true christian ideals. Sotialism is only the 
evolution and right application of government, and 
must come as the result of firmly fixed' ideals of 
economic liberty and justice. 

It is a moral as well as an economic move- 
ment, and can better afford to wait the 
growth of right sentiments than to act hastily 



228 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

without them. Enhghtened' morahty is sel- 
dom the prod'iict of leg-islation, or force. Forty 
years of experience along this line is making our 
government cautious about enfranchising its re- 
cently acquired Island wards. 

Eventually all co-operative enterprises, as wdll 
as some others, would be absorbed by the govern- 
ment, w'hich would now have in its employ an 
agg-regate of over twO' million men. These, with 
their families, would comprise nearly one-eighth of 
the whole people. The government would now 
organize its industries, as before "described, and 
would introduce a special script in paying its em- 
ployees, which wO'Uld be the only money that 
would be taken at the government stores, in pay- 
ment for goods. The government would buy such 
goods as it did not produce with regular money, 
which it received from its earnings, and taxes. The 
script would rapidly command a premium over the 
regular money, as it alone couTd buy at the cheaper 
government stores, where goods would be sold at 
about cost. This system would not interfere with 
the outside business any more than necessary and 
would leave people free to choose their employer 



'~ THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 229 

or merchant. The tendency wo'ul'd) be to induce 
people to work for the government, and everything 
would be done with that end in view. As the 
government holdings increased, anxl' its business 
expanded, labor for private enterprises, would be- 
canne more and more scarce, and money more 
plentiful. Wages would rise and interest rates 
would fall. The premiium' on script would increase. 
The government having constantly less and less to 
buy would have more regular money to expend in 
buying new plants, etc. Up to this-time the various 
employees- would have received wages, according 
to their skill and ability. They woiuld hiave lived 
in their own homes and paid taxes, rents, etc., as at 
present. 

When, how€ver, industry had become sufficient- 
ly organized, arid the sentiment of the people de- 
manded the change, the private property of the 
employees would be taken by the governnnent, 
cre-diit cards woiuld supercede the script, and each 
would share aHke. The other reforms described 
woul'd then be instituted as fast as possible. 

The co-operation of other civilized countries 
would be highly desirable, and, judging from 



230 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

present appearances, it will not be found! wanting 
when needed. 

The triiimphial arch of human liberty must spring 
from truth and justice. Bcononiic-equality will he 
its key, the stone last put in place, and which 
alone will give it strcn^ht and permanence. 

This scheme seems feasible and rationa'l, but 
whether it is or not, we are at least nearly, if not 
quite, ready to begin. The way is being rapidly 
prepared by the concentrationi of our railroads, 
manufactories, telegraphs and telephones, for the 
first great step in public ownership. As our gov- 
ernment increases in usefulness, by expanding its 
functions in behalf of the people, more and more 
men of character and real ability wiill devote their 
best energies to its service. The professional poli- 
ticians will be succeed'ed by statesmen, philosophers, 
scientists, engineers and business men. These w'il'l 
bring with them' both the ability and the honesty, 
necessary to carry on the work desired. 

I ami fuUy aware that the first years of this 
regime wouM offer vast opportunities for fraud, 
but when we consider the relatively small amount 
of loss from this cause, in our present enormous 



The warfare of wealth. 2Sl 

expenses of the government, and further that the 
increase would be along' lines' well adapted to sys- 
tematic operation, we need not allowi this to 
frig-hten us. 

The present expenses of our government are 
enormous, compared with those of fifty years ago. 
Many departments have been added, which_ an- 
nualty expend more than "did the whole govern- 
ment at that timie. Nearly all of the regular or- 
ganized departments are now operated with reason- 
able economy and but little lossi from: fraud. It 
is only in the irregular work that errors creep' in. 

Then again, we shoulld remember that in a large 
majority oi our great industries, the men who really 
manage themi are not the owners, but salariedi men. 
Sometimes the managers are small stock-holders, 
but the owners of large amounts are seldom, active 
in the management and' often have nothing at all 
to do with it, while the small stock-hoMers are not 
even represented by proxies. Yet there seems to 
be no trouble in carrying on these indostries. We 
have already thoroughly learned the art of organiz- 
ing business e-nterprises. Then, too, we should 
remem'ber, that it is far easie to manage large 



232 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

concerns, in proportion to their output, than many 
small ones. The difficulties become less and not 
greater. 

I have shown that we have already adopted co- 
operation in many of our enterprises, always with 
success. I have ailso shown tlrat we have little or 
nothing to hope from our present economic system. 
Increase of wealth now brings increase of poverty 
and crime. The implement of production n'ow 
gets so large a share of the product, over fifty per 
cent, in transportation and manufacture, that hav- 
ing little expense, it constantly increases its oavii 
power. Labor on the other hand, is a heavy con- 
sumer, carrying all thfe burdens of society, yet it 
receives only enough to partly meet the demands 
made upon it. 

Machiner}' is the accumulated product of all 
past human intelligence, and should rightly be the 
heritage of the labor which uses it. We scorn to 
allow capital to own a living man to-day, but we 
make no protest at its owning absolutely the pro- 
duct of the man of the past. 

An automatic machine often represents many 
times more inelligence in its construction and oper- 



I , THE WARFARE OP WEALTH. :233 

ation, than does the child who feeds it. When we 
allow capital to own the machine, we put the opera- 
,tive at a heavy disadvantage. Labor's product 
ought to he labor's inheritance. The accunmla- 
tion of intelligence, crystallised in machinery, ought 
to he an assistance and not a hiirden to labor. We 
have made noble sacrifices tO' emancipate the in- 
telligence of the present. Should we not also make 
some efifort to emancipate the result of the intelli- 
gence of the past, and return it to its rightful heirs ? 

Should zve not also make man's service to his 
fellozv man his moral ohligation and loftiest ani- 
hition, rather than leave it, as it nozv is, a secondary 
product in the accumulation of wealths 

The spinning wheel and' the hand loom, which 
our mothers used, have now become the spinning 
Jenny and the power loom, which use our daugh- 
ters. The stage-coach, which our fathers owned, 
has now become a railway, which, economically, 
owns our sons. It has been a transformation scene 
on life's stage, so' sudden arid soi dazzling that the 
people's eyes are only beginning tO' perceive the 
real character of the new setting. The memory 
^of the beauty of former scenes still lingers, while 



234 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

the strangeness of the new one is y-et beAvildering. 
Wie are apt to be disappointed with what is new and 
strange, but we shoii-ld remember, with the great 
poet, that our vision is limited and "Oft times 
celestial benedictions assume this dark disguise." 
TJw inacJiinc and the trust are not our enemies, but 
ill reality our best friends. We niiist get intimate- 
ly acquainted zvith them, and make them our very 
oinm. It is not their fault if we fail to adopt and 
use them, but ours. We should not praise the man 
behind the gun, in warfare, and neglect the man 
behind the machine in time of peace. One is no 
more essential to victory than the other. We must 
learn to put a true value upon both intelligence and 
on the implement it uses ; on labor and on capital, 
on God's handiwork and on man's. 

We often bear the termi paternalism used in 
connection with government ownership oif wealth. 
I wish to correct this impression. It is not paternal- 
ism, but fraternalism, which socialism seeks. Labor 
is not a weak child, that it needs protection and 
care. It has never played the baby, as capital has 
often done, but has ever been a courageous, self- 
sacrificing brother, who only demands that condi- 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 2§5 

tions be so ordered that he may work in hanriiony 
and peace and enjoy what he himself earns. Pa- 
ternahsm may be necessary for the politician and 
the capitalist, but fraternalism is all that labor 
asks. As children of one God, we have the right 
to this by inheritance, and justice wiM not deprive 
us of it. 

* Any government zvhich directly or indirectly 
fosters human selfishness and promotes conditions 
ivliicli tend to separate men into classes, is the 
enemy and not the friend of its subjects. Just gov- 
ernments are instituted for the benefit of the people, 
and not for the benefit of capital. How far our 
own government has strayed from these early 
i'deals, I k-ave the reader tOi judge. As to the best 
methods of righting the wrongs, opinions differ 
widely. One thing should be recognized by all re- 
formers, and that is, the goo'd that others are doing. 
Our civilization is complex and all parts must be 
reached. Somje peopile can be reached best thro'Ugh 
their intelligence, and seme thrciugh their physical 
desire ; some through hope oi reward, and some 
throu'gh fear; some through love and duty, and 
some through hate and revenge. The true reform>- 



2?.e ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

er should not despise the aid of any one who seeks 
the betterment of human conditions, but strive to 
ideahze and harmonize the efforts. Trades unions, 
fraternal societies, poilitical parties, churches and 
charity organizations all have their mission of edu- 
cation to fulfill. Nor should we be discouraged' at 
slow progress. It is an old adage that it is al'ways 
darkest just before dawn. The extreme oppression 
of the church in the dark ages caused its overthrow, 
as no other means couldi have done. The tyranny 
of King George did more for political liberty than 
any other O'ne cause. S'O', too, the oppression of 
labor and the arrogance O'f capital as illustrated in 
the recent strike, if properly interpreted, may react 
to the ultimate good of economic liberty and jus- 
tice. Intelligent inanlwod is beginning to realicc 
that no man-ordained priesthood or church is 
necessary to mediate betzceen him and his God. He 
also recognizes thai no self-appointed or heredi- 
tary ruler is necessary to good government. He 
has yet to recognise tliat capitalists, separate and 
apart from labor, are not necessary for industrial 
enterprise. 

Religious liberty, tJirough scientific knoicledge, 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 237 

lias taught man tliat he is not at war zvith God. 
Political liberty^ through equality in our democratic 
institutions has taught man that he is not at zvar 
ivith government. Bconomic liberty, through co- 
operation and equality in zvealth, will teach man 
that he is not at war with his fellow-man. 

As ignorance and superstition are rapidly giving 

zvay to knozviedge and truth, and as tyranny and 

oppression are being superseded by personal rights 

■ and civil liberty, so, too, selfishness must give zvay 

to loz'c and humanity at last be free. - 



■kuvjfilV IW 1II,';UUW 



"Through the harsh noises of our day, a low sweet 

prelude finds its way; 
Through clouds of doubt and creeds of fear, a light 

is breakinsT calm and clear." 



238 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 



APPENDIX. 



There are some statistics that may be of interest, 
which are not given in the foregoing chapters, 
hence, are appended' here. The census returns for 
1900 are not yet completed, and statistics 011 soci- 
ology are rare in any event. The following are ta- 
ken from the census returns. Bureau of Labor re- 
ports, and Inter-State Commerce Commiission and 
other reports. As aill figures are approximate, I 
have used the round numbers only : 

AGRICULTURE. 

Number of farms in United States. . 5,739,000 

Total value, including stock and tools 

$20,439,000,000 

Gross proceeds in 1899 $3,705,000,000 

" " per farm (average) . . $645.00 

RAILWAYS. {Advance Preliminary Report.) 

In 1900, the total mileage, about. . . . 196,000 miles. 
Controlled by five great combines, 

aboiit 160,000 miles. 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 239 



Total! gross earnin-gs $1,711,754,000 

Operating expemses $1,106,137,400 

Net earnings $605,616,000 

Nurmber of emptoyees, about 800,000 

This shows an average product, per man 

of $2,139.00 

Total value as capitalized $11,800,000,000 

Total value controlled by five con> 

bines $9,000,000,000 

Net e'arnings nine per cent greater than previous 

year. 
Net earnings equals five per cent on total stock. 
Average freight rate, seven mills per ton mile. 
There were 13,700 miles of railway merged in 

1899. 

MANUFACTURING. {Census 1900.) 

Total capital employed (stock issued, etc.,) 

$9,835,000,000 

Stock (raw material )used $7,348,000,000 

Total product -. $13,000,000,000 

Wages paid .,,,,.,.,, 2,328,000,009 



240 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

Average lUiiiTber of wage earners 5,316,000 

Average wages $438.00 

The product i>cr total capita has increased about 

300 per cent in forty years. In i860 it was $60. 

In 1900 $172. 

The number of concerns in the following lines 

decreased during the past ten years (agricultural 

implements, boots and shoes, glass, iron, leather, 

woolens and slaughter houses.) 

In 1900, 450 factories emplo'ycd each over 1,000 
hands. 

Clothing operators produce $703 per capita, annu- 
ally, and receive in wages, $370 per capita 
average. •, 

TRUSTS IN ^lANUFACTURE TO 1900. 

Number reported, exclusive of steel trust 183 

Actual capital employed $1,458,500,000 

Authorized capital emplo}-ed $3,607,000,000 

Issued stock and bonds $3,085,000,000 

Over fifty per cent of trusts have been chartered 
between January ist, 1899 and June 30th, 1901. 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 



211 



CORPORATIONS FORMED IN NEW 
JERSEY. ■ - ' \ 



1 896, number chartered, 834 



1897, 
1898, 
1899, 
1900 
1901, 



IGS9 
1 103 

2821 

1987 

2347 



Total capitalization, over $4,000,000,000 

The totali pro'diict of 183 trusts in 1899 

$1,661,000,000 

Raw materials used $1,085,000,000 

Actual capital employed $1,434,000,000 

Wagies paid. . $195,000,000 

Average number employed 400,000 

The average product of labor employed 

by the trusts in manufacturing is $1,440 

This shows forty- four per cent increase over the 
average in all manufacturing, . . 



243 ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

The average capita'I per employee in 

trusts $3,585 

in all manufacturing $1,850 

in raihvays $14,750 

in) agriculture $3,560 

Average wages of trust employees, 

per annum $487 

Average product of trust employees $1,440 

Profit on $3,585 actual capital $953 

(over 26 per cent.) 
The productivity of labor engaged' in manufac- 
ture has increased fifteen per cent in ten years. 
The present average per operative is about $1,000 
per annum. 

Capital interests draws over 66 per cent, of the 
products. 

Operating expenses outside of wages should 
be deducted'. 

The average wage of all wage earners is not far 
from $450 per year. (Allowing one per farm.) 

The average product per wage earner in the 
aLove industries is about $900 per annum (allow- 
ing one per farm.) 



The warfare op wealth. 245 

The average gross income from production, per 
total capita for all occupations is probably not far 
from $200. T'hds excludes interest and rents, etc. 

Twelve per cent of all the boys under sixteen 
and over seven years old are employed in 
wage earning industries. Six per cent of the girls 
under fifteen are so employed. As high as thirty 
per cent in some Southern mills under twelve years 
old, their average wages being $1.43 per week. In 
Massachusetts there are, in the seven principal 
manufacturing industries, 60,000 workers under 
21 years. 30,000, one-seventh of all those work- 
ers, get less than $5 a week. 

The public debt of the United States, the several 
states, countries, cities and towns, in 1890, was $2,- 
027,000,000. 

The foregoing figures, while approximately cor- 
rect for the fields covered are still incomplete. 
It is difficult to analyze the complex expenses 
and receipts of our modern industries. It is un- 
fortunate that our statistics do not go more 
fully into the sociological features of our civi- 
lization. There are some lessons that may 



244 ■ ECONOMIC LIBERTY VS. 

be learned, from a study of the figures given, how- 
ever, and the tendency of modern times is clearly 
shov^n. That it is toward centra'lizatioii of control, 
wherever po&sible, is indicated, also the reason for 
it, namely, "the vast increase in the productivity of 
labor, thus organized. Note the results of the 
farmer and trust employee, both of w'hom use about 
the same capital. Also note that the increase of 
capital used in railroading, or by the trusts, also 
increases the product, per capita, while wages re- 
main nearly constant. Another interesting fact is 
that the total capital engaged in railways, mianu- 
faoturing and agriculture, is only $42,000,000,000. 
If'we add to this, shipping, telegraphs, telephones, 
merchandise on hand, trolley lines, etc., estimated 
at about five billions, we still have nearly one-half 
of our total wealth wrapped up in urban real es- 
tate. A much larger amount than most people 
imagine. 

It is reasonable to predict that if all our produc- 
tion and distribution were org-anized', as thorough- 
ly as some of our industries are, that our present 
plant and abilities would give to each one at least' 
three times the amount now earned. In other words 



THE WARFARE OF WEALTH. 245 

every family of five could have at least three thou- 
sand' dollars per year. This result can only be 
brought about by the same means as those used by 
our trusts and railroads, namely, centradized con- 
i.To\, no waste time or capital, no interest, rent or 
dividends, and finally an equal division of the 
product. 



ECONOMIC 
LIBERTY— 
VS 

WARFARE- 

OF 

WEALTH 



Cbe Crust and Cabor Question and 
its national Solution. 



L 



BY 

ORLO &PPS 









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